Amazon Said to Be Working On New Smartphones Codenamed “Ice”
Once upon a time Amazon tried breaking into the smartphone market with an offering of its own and failed miserably. Despite being launched with bells and whistles, its Fire Phone proved to be a major flop. The device brought sub-par specs to the table, as well as a questionable user experience and a high-price tag. All of these aspects combined spelled a recipe for disaster.
Amazon failed once, but that doesn’t mean its hopes of becoming an important smartphone player have dissolved. Far from it. According to a report coming out of Indian publication NDTV, Amazon is working on new smartphone models codenamed “Ice”.
Two sources who have apparently handled one of these phones revealed a few aspects about Amazon’s alleged return to the world of handsets.
The Amazon Ice lineup is said to feature at least one model with a display between 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch, a Snapdragon 435 processor, 2GB of RAM, as well as 16GB of internal storage. The phone also include a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.
According to the sources, this time around Amazon will be targeting emerging markets such as India, with the model outline above selling for approximately $125 CAD.
We’re also told that unlike the Fire Phone, the Ice handsets will feature Google services onboard like the Google Play Store or Gmail. Sadly, it does not appear the phones will ship with Amazon’s popular Alexa virtual assistant.
[NDTV]