Amazon Reportedly Planning Alexa-Focused Phone for Shopping and AI

When Amazon introduced its first mobile phone, the Fire Phone, in 2014, it was so poorly received that the company stopped selling the device only a year later. According to Reuters, that’s not stopping the retail giant from trying again.

Amazon is reportedly developing a mobile device that would sync with its existing ecosystem of software and hardware, including Alexa-based smart hubs and its Prime Video TV service.

The project is being referred to internally as “Transformer” and could still be in the early stages, according to Reuters. At this stage, there’s no word on a possible timeframe for release, or much information on what would differentiate the phone from the devices it would compete with from companies including Apple and Samsung. 

The phone would be focused on AI features instead of app downloads, according to the sources cited in the report. Perhaps inevitably, it would also make it easier than ever to buy products from Amazon and use its services, including Prime Video and Prime Music. The voice assistant Alexa would not be the primary operating system driving the phone, sources said.

Amazon is also rumored to be developing an Android tablet, which would be a break from the tablets it sells running its own Fire OS software.  

A representative for Amazon declined comment on the report.

Avoiding the Fire Phone’s mistakes

In CNET’s review of Amazon’s Fire Phone in 2014, Jessica Dolcourt awarded the phone 6.9/10, calling it “daring, aspirational and pleasing to use,” but noted its sub-optimal price, performance and specs. “You need to be all-in on the Amazon ecosystem to fully appreciate it, and even then, it’s not delivering a lot of Amazon features that you can’t get on rival products.”

So what could Amazon do differently this time to ensure it doesn’t have another flop phone on its hands? “Amazon proved it can put its name behind electronics at a consumer-friendly price,” says Dolcourt, commenting on the company’s rumored return to the phone market. “The harder part is to create a compelling phone that people actually want to use. It’s not enough for a few perks to tie back to a juggernaut platform — it has to deliver as a standalone device.”

Whether Amazon has learned from its mistakes and can make a phone capable of challenging industry leaders such as Apple and Samsung remains to be seen. We can only hope this rumor doesn’t flame out before the Fire Phone’s successor comes to fruition.