iOS 7 Activation Lock means fewer thieves can be bothered to steal your iPhone Jun 19th 2014, 14:18, by Chris Smith 
The introduction of the Activation Lock feature in Apple's iOS 7 software has dramatically reduced the number of iPhone thefts in the last few months, police on both sides of the Atlantic have claimed. The improved Find My iPhone tool, added last year, acts as a virtual kill switch as it prevents unauthorised users from erasing and reactivating the device without the owner's Apple ID and password. As a result, the device becomes all-but-useless to thieves, who are snatching iPhones in much fewer numbers compared with six months ago. The New York Times brings word from London police that iPhone thefts are down 24 per cent, while they've dropped 38 per cent in Apple's San Francisco homeland. PaperweightNew York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said the so-called kill switch meant all thieves were getting for their criminal endeavours was a very elaborate, unsellable 'paperweight.' The Activation Lock feature is automatically enabled when users choose to set-up the Find My iPhone GPS tracking tool, when setting up new iOS devices for the first time. As well as preventing third parties from wiping and reactivating the device, Activation Lock also prevents Find My iPhone from being turned off and stops anyone signing out of iCloud on your device. Lawmakers in Minnesota and California have recently passed bills requiring all smartphones to have anti-theft technology, while a national smartphone kill switch bill was tabled in February. Last year London Mayor Boris Johnson also urged smartphone manufacturers and software developers to do more to protect customers from theft.       | Whisper it, but BlackBerry just posted itself a little bit of a profit Jun 19th 2014, 13:19, by Chris Smith 
After seemingly years of gloom-laden financial reports, BlackBerry surprised the bean counters on Wall Street by posting a small quarterly profit, before confirming a new handset is on the way this autumn. In the first real indication the company may still be around for years to come, Waterloo managed to earn a net income $23m in the three months ending May 31, although after adjustments the loss was $60m. The turnaround in fortunes, which resulted in a 10 per cent share rise on Thursday, comes as BlackBerry continues to cut costs and moves away from the business of selling hardware to consumers and towards a services-centric operation. 54 per cent of its $966m revenue in the quarter came from such services, while only 39 per cent came from the sales of 2.6 million BlackBerry phones, down steeply from 3.4m this time last year. Don't forget your PassportMeanwhile, during the earnings call with investors, BlackBerry CEO John Chen confirmed that the short and wide-set device currently doing the rounds in all manner of leaked photos is the real deal. The device codenamed 'Windemere' will officially be known as the Passport (named after its dimensions) and will be revealed at a launch event in London in September, CrackBerry reports. All in all a pretty good Thursday for BlackBerry. It's been a while since anyone said that on a day which has a 'Y' in it.       | Roundup: Amazon Fire phone review roundup Jun 19th 2014, 11:00, by John McCann 
The Amazon Fire phone has finally been announced after years of speculation, and it's certainly bringing some different ideas to the table. First up it sports five cameras on the front - one is the traditional front-facing snapper, and the other four are part of the Fire's Dynamic Perspective feature. Dynamic Perspective tracks your head, and works out the distance it is from the screen, to produce 3D-like graphics on-screen. Firefly is a supercharged barcode scanner which you can use to scan, well, anything. A pub sign, a car, a magazine, a bottle of beer. You name it, Firefly will scan it, and then probably try and make you buy something. Mayday - Amazon's 24-7-365 interactive customer service - also makes the leap from the Kindle Fire HDX tablet to the Fire phone. That all sounds lovely, but is it any good? We've taken a look at the early hands on Amazon Fire phone reviews from around the web to gauge the interest. GizmodoGizmodo doesn't hold back, declaring the Fire phone to be "Great for Amazon, less for you." From the various hands-on reviews it's clear that the Amazon Fire isn't convincing people it's worth ordering just yet. "The biggest impression one's left with is that Amazon poured the bulk of its resources into the part of the Fire phone - that's Firefly - that makes it easiest for you to buy things from Amazon." "Our advice for now, though: Hold off on pre-ordering. Amazon's Fire HDX tablet is fantastic. The Fire Phone? We're less sure." Wired UKThe face and head tracking cameras are certainly impressive tech, but as Wired notes it's still not perfect. "We had a representative at our side throughout the demo, and any time he had control of a head-tilting moment and aimed the phone my way, the control or sense would become wonky. "This noticeably occurred at least six times in our half-hour of testing. "It's seeing both of our faces," he'd say apologetically each time. That's a huge hurdle to overcome, especially if Amazon expects to virally advertise this phone by having enthusiasts show it off." Cnet Cnet reckons Amazon is taking a bit of a gamble with the Fire phone. "Amazon is taking huge risks in going against the big guys like Samsung and Apple. It's done it before, but in a tablet space that isn't as entrenched - or as vital - as smartphones." Plus it's not the likes of Firefly and Mayday which will attract customers to the phone either. "More likely, customers will come for the free year of Amazon Prime, especially if they rely heavily on Amazon's online services, like shopping and music and video streaming, or own a Kindle or Amazon Fire TV." EngadgetThe folks over at Engadget appear relatively non-plussed about the Amazon Fire phone. "Spec-wise, it isn't the most impressive phone, despite commanding a $199 price tag on-contract ($650 off-contract). But it's not horrible either - it's simply what you'd expect from an average phone." "Users with motion sickness will not like the Dynamic Perspective option. It reminds me of the parallax motion on iOS 7, a feature that frustrated a fair number of iPhone and iPad users. Fortunately, Amazon will let you turn this feature off." The VergeThe Verge highlights that one of the core reasons Amazon has produced the Fire phone is to drive sales. "There simply has never been a better device to help you indulge in impulse purchases - a prospect that has us both intrigued and terrified in equal parts." As with the others, the Verge doesn't see it as a bad device, but the Fire appears to be struggling to win people over. "The Fire phone makes a neat first impression, but it has a mid-range ethos to it that makes the total asking price feel a little steep." Android CentralOver at Android Central the feeling is that the retail giant has done the right thing. "Amazon created a mobile device that speaks to its customer base perfectly, and the end result is the Fire Phone." "How much appeal it actually draws will ultimately be limited by its price and carrier restrictions, but as a first start for Amazon in the phone marketplace, we're excited about the Fire Phone."       | Microsoft may go after Amazon with hands-free zooming Jun 19th 2014, 10:25, by James Rogerson 
Dynamic Perspective looks to be a big selling point of the Amazon Fire Phone, but Microsoft seems to be exploring some hands-free technology of its own. A recently uncovered Microsoft patent describes a system whereby the content displayed to a user changes depending on how far away the device is from their eyes. The obvious application of that is for hands-free zooming, so if you want to zoom in on an image for example then rather than pinching or double tapping the screen you'd simply bring the phone closer to your face, while holding it further away would zoom out. 
Now this is just a patent so it may not make it into a finished product and even if it does it would be some way off the level of hands-free control that Dynamic Perspective gives you, but it might just be one piece of the picture. Fire baitWe've already heard rumours that there's a Windows Phone handset codenamed McLaren in development which apparently features Kinect-like motion controls, allowing users to interact with games and applications without touching the screen thanks to an array of motion and proximity sensors. Now that really does sound like an alternative to Dynamic Perspective and if Microsoft is planning on putting this hands-free zooming concept into a phone then McLaren would be the ideal candidate and with the handset expected to ship later this year Amazon might have some serious competition before long.       | LG G3 Mini might be smaller than the G2 Mini Jun 19th 2014, 09:15, by James Rogerson 
Despite its mini moniker the LG G2 Mini, with its 4.7-inch screen, really wasn't all that small. It looks like LG might have cottoned on to that as the latest leaks suggest the LG G3 Mini might come in at a slightly smaller 4.5 inches. That's still not tiny, but it's heading in the right direction matching the HTC One Mini 2 in terms of screen size. A listing on Indian import / export site Zauba is the source of this latest information and it's worth taking it with a pinch of salt as the site has been wrong before. Shrunken size, shrunken specsZauba claims that the LG G3 Mini will have a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of internal memory, 5MP camera and a 2100 mAh battery. If true it would mean the camera and battery have also been downgraded from what we saw on the LG G2 Mini, while the processor is no faster. That's all kinds of confusing since you'd expect a new phone in a range to be an improvement, not a downgrade, even if it is now more fitting of its name. All the more reason to be a little sceptical about this then, but if it does turn out to be true then you might want to hold on to your G2 Mini, because the G3 Mini isn't sounding like much of an upgrade. - The LG G3 should be rather more eye-catching.
      | BlackBerry is finally getting apps thanks to the Amazon App Store Jun 19th 2014, 06:15, by Nick Broughall 
Not only is Amazon forcibly smashing its way into the smartphone market with its Fire Phone today, it's got BlackBerry singing its praises as well. The Canadian smartphone maker has piggybacked on Amazon's coattails, announcing that its BB10 smartphones will support the Amazon App Store when BlackBerry releases its 10.3 software update in Q3 this year. That means that BlackBerry Z10 owners will be able to download from the 240,000 Amazon App Store library. A supplement, not a replacementWith sales of BlackBerry handsets not exactly setting the world on fire - possibly because BB10 is hard to learn - the platform is struggling to attract key apps for its customers. With the Amazon partnership, BlackBerry has an opportunity to expand the company's software repertoire fairly simply. In the leadup to the 10.3 update, BlackBerry and Amazon will be working with BlackBerry developers to help them migrate their apps to the Amazon App Store. BlackBerry will also be launching a new enterprise application partner program for corporate developers, to develop enterprise level solutions for the company's corporate customers. Of course, there's no guarantee this will help move BlackBerry units, although perhaps if it's coupled with some impressive new hardware, we might start to see BlackBerry return to its former glory.       | T-Mobile partners with Rhapsody to make unRadio Jun 19th 2014, 02:02, by Lily Prasuethsut 
In addition to Test Drive and Music Freedom - Un-carrier numbers 5.0 and 6.0, T-Mobile and Rhapsody have created a brand, spankin' new internet radio service as part of the 6.0: Rhapsody unRadio. If you're already a customer with 4G LTE through T-Mobile's Simple Choice Unlimited, you'll get the unRadio for free. If not but you're still on T-Mo, it'll cost you $4 per month. Prepaid customers will not be able to take advantage of T-Mobile's special pricing Non-T-Mobile customers can still subscribe to the music service for $5 a month. Once paid for, you'll get unlimited data to stream the music. Other features include unlimited skips, replaying favorite songs and no commercials - plus the library boasts 20 million songs. Rhapsody unRadio will be available for both Android and iOS, though not Windows Phone or BlackBerry users. Whether you're on T-Mo or not, the music service will be available starting June 22. Sounds alright so farWith so many restrictions on current internet radios, T-Mo and Rhapsody may have stumbled on a goldmine. Even if you're not on magenta carrier, five bucks a month is certainly much cheaper than other services out there. The promises attached to the new unRadio also sound pretty good. The appeal of free streaming is also quite a draw since that's a huge concern for people who listen to music on their LTE mobile devices. So far it pretty much resembles Pandora, Spotify and other popular services in terms of features - where in addition to the ones mentioned above, you can also thumbs up or thumbs down, so the algorithm learns your preferences; there's also TrackMatch which is like SoundHound or Shazam, where you can identify random songs when you're out and about plus create radio stations from the identifications. With T-Mo seemingly on the rise in terms of popularity and all around generally positive feedback, it will certainly be interesting to see how well the unRadio does when it goes live next week.       | Updated: T-Mobile wants you to stream as much as you want with Music Freedom Jun 19th 2014, 01:47, by Michelle Fitzsimmons 
Sounding sick of constantly being asked when the next Un-carrier move is coming, T-Mobile CEO John Legere went ahead and announced Un-Carrier 6.0 right after unveiling Un-Carrier 5.0. The latest addition to the T-Mo quiver is called Music Freedom. It's an initiative that lets Simple Choice customers listen to most music services with unlimited streaming on their mobile devices, and it's live right now. This includes Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Slacker, Spotify, Milk Music and Beatport, all streaming with no data caps and at no extra cost. Users never have to worry about hitting 4G LTE data caps. "No data caps apply because music should be free," said CMO Mike Sievert during the Seattle event unveiling Music Freedom. We can handle itAside from letting customers listen to whatever music they want for as long as they want, T-Mobile sees Music Freedom as a chance to prove how strong its network is. T-Mobile is letting customers voice what services they want added to the Music Freedom offering, promising more will be included down the road. Users can jump to a dedicated website or tweet with #musicfreedom to make their service suggestions. As part of the announcement, T-Mobile also unveiled unRadio, a new music service built in partnership with Rhapsody. If you were expecting another Un-carrier announcement sometime this year, give yourself a pat on the back. Un-carrier 7.0 is due sometime later this summer. - Like the iPhone 5S? Then you may want to check out the iPhone 6
      | Updated: T-Mobile wants you to try out its network for free with Test Drive Jun 19th 2014, 01:23, by Michelle Fitzsimmons 
T-Mobile has announced a program called Test Drive, essentially giving customers the chance to try out its network for seven days at no cost. Sign up for Test Drive and T-Mobile will ship you an iPhone 5S to play with for a "data-intensive" week for free … if you return it after seven days, a T-Mobile rep told TechRadar. If you don't give the phone back, then your credit card will be charged $699 plus tax. If you return the phone after a few days' grace period in good condition, then a credit will be given to you. The deal kicks off June 23 when customers can sign up online. Shortly after, they'll get a 5S and can start their Test Drive. CEO John Legere said T-Mobile plans to give out one million Test Drives. T-Mobile's hope is to show folks who haven't been on its network just how good they say it is. To spice it up, T-Mobile is also launching a #7NightStand Challenge where users are encouraged to post about their "7-day fling" with T-Mobile. Those who participate in all seven challenges will be entered to win a trip for two to a romantic destination. Legere addressed the question of why Test Drive doesn't include Android phones. He said that many people still don't know T-Mobile carriers Apple's latest handset, and he noted the program is just getting off the ground, suggesting it may expand further on. The Un-carrier push continuesTest Drive is part of T-Mobile's Uncarrier 5.0 push. So far T-Mo has unveiled a series of Uncarrier programs such as no contracts/no limits, Jump, unlimited data and texting in over 100 countries and calling at 20 cents per minute and paying up to $350 for an EFT to leave other networks. As part of these announcements, T-Mobile has also hit a number of coverage milestones. Today was no different. T-Mo revealed it its Wideband LTE is now available in 16 total markets, boosting LTE devices up to 150Mbps. It's Voice over LTE (VoLTE) now also reaches 100 million people in 15 markets. - Heard about the Amazon phone? Let's just say John Legere isn't a fan
      | Early view: Amazon Fire Phone vs iPhone 5S vs Galaxy S5 vs LG G3 Jun 18th 2014, 21:53, by Kevin Lee 
Design, display and specsAfter being long-rumored to introduce its own smartphone, Amazon has finally unveiled the Fire Phone, complete with a new 3D interface and a helpful information and shopping tool called Firefly. The Amazon phone is counting on these novel features to grab customers, but are they enough to help the device stand out in today's crowded smartphone market? Armed with its feisty name, the Fire phone is joining the already frantic fray between the LG G3, Samsung Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5S. While the Fire isn't equipped with the latest bleeding edge hardware, it offers some enticing features that may draw users away from the safety of Samsung and Apple. Below, we pit key features of the latest smartphone entrant against the more established old guard. Design
Amazon hasn't skimped on the industrial build quality of its first handset. Featuring a rubberized frame, Gorilla Glass on both the front and back, CNC aluminum buttons, polished button chamfers, and injection-molded steel connectors every part of this handset should have a tight and precise fit. The Fire is also smaller than most of its competitors thanks to having a more conservative 4.7-inch screen. Overall the Amazon smartphone measures 139.2 x 66.5 x 8.9mm in size and weighs 160 grams. Despite having the second smallest screen of the bunch the Fire is still heavier than even the LG G3 and its 5.5-inch screen. This is likely because the Fire comes with two panes of Gorilla glass, whereas the LG G3 has a lightweight 149g plastic frame measuring 146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9mm. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is made of a similarly lightweight 142 x 72.5 x 8.1mm plastic frame weighing only 145g. The Galaxy S5 also has the honor of being the only waterproof handset with a removable back, allowing users to replace the battery. Despite its metal body, the iPhone 5S is by far the lightest at 112g but also the smallest at only 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm. It's screen measures a relatively scant four inches. Display
On paper the weakest part of the Amazon Fire Phone is its lacking 1280 x 720 resolution screen. It has the lowest pixel-per-inch density at 315. Compare that to the 326ppi iPhone 5S and its 1136 x 640 pixel display. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the LG G3 comes with one of the mobile industry's first QHD displays at an eye-popping 2560 x 1440 resolution and 538ppi. The Galaxy S5 lags behind with a standard full-HD 1920 x 1080 panel and a ppi of 431. Screen resolution is of course only half the story. The Fire still has a leg up thanks to its display being an IPS panel, which should resolve better-than-average colors. Additionally IPS screens tend to have more generous viewing angles that should help keep the picture clear when users are twisting and tiling the Fire at odd angles when using its 3D interface. SpecsSadly the Fire also comes packing an older generation 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU paired with an Adreno 330 GPU, whereas most of its Android competition - including the Samsung Galaxy S5 and LG G3 - are powered with a 2.5GHz Qualcomm quad-core chip and Adreno 300 GPU. All three handsets, however, come packing the same 2GB amount of RAM. That is, unless users are looking to pick up the 32GB version of the LG G3 with 3GB of RAM onboard. Storage-wise customers can pick up a 32GB version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 to match the lowest level of Fire. Amazon's handset lacks any mircoSD slot for holding any additional data, though it will be available in a 64GB variant. The iPhone 5S, meanwhile, is in its own older class of hardware using the Apple developed 1.3GHz dual-core A7 chip with 1GB RAM and a PowerVR G6430 GPU. Cameras, features, price and the early verdictCameras
Technically, the Amazon Fire has a total of six cameras but for now we're going to talk about the ones that actually shoot images. The handset is equipped with a 13MP rear-facing camera with an f/2.0 lens. The 13MP sensor might be not be too exciting when the LG G3 has a matching resolution imaging chip. The Galaxy S5, meanwhile, actually beats out the Amazon smartphone with a 16MP camera that can shoot 4K video. That said, the Fire has the widest aperture lens whereas the LG G3 is trapped at f/2.4 and the Galaxy S5 and iPhone both have a f/2.2 lens. This wider lens should allow the Fire to capture more light at night. Amazon thus far has already touted its phone has clearer and sharper low-light capabilities than both Apple and Samsung. Dynamic Perspective 
Moving onto one of the most unique features Fire, Amazon's smartphone has four infrared cameras designed to track a user's face and orientation to the device. It's not 3D nor parallax; instead the Fire's entire interface is designed to present a 3D-like experience that shifts to match the user's gaze. Amazon is calling it Dynamic Perspective. Integrated with maps, this added visual layer could allow users to see information "tucked" underneath such as Yelp ratings and reviews. For some more visual flair lockscreens and wall papers will have a 3D effect. This perspective-skewing experience is only half the formula though as users will also be able to navigate on their phone using gesture controls. The Fire Phone has some beefed up accelerometers to take commands like one-hand tilting to scroll through a list of shopping items in the Amazon Shopping app. Elsewhere, Fire users could the tilting controls while listening to music on the Amazon Music app to reveal song lyrics or auto-scroll through an article on the web. FeaturesRight off the bat Amazon is including free unlimited photo storage and a free year of Prime for anyone that picks up its first handset. Along with the free-two day shipping on practically everything Amazon sells, Prime grants users access to unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Prime Instant Video. Amazon boasted that Fire owners will be able to watch over 200,000 videos, including exclusive content. The free streaming also extends to Amazon's music library. Additionally users can borrow an e-book from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library of over 500,000 titles to choose from. Additionally, Amazon hopes its Fire Phone will take off as a media device that can fling video to any Miracast device such as a Fire TV. Apple has a similar AirPlay system set up for connecting users' iDevices to an Apple TV. Android users, meanwhile, can flick their video content from mobile phone to the Chromecast. Although these are both good options that work, Amazon wins out slightly simply because there are more devices that work on the Miracast standard. Amazon unique MayDay, "tell me how to use this device" feature also makes a return on the Fire phone with a dedicated physical button to trigger it no matter if the user is connected by 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi. Firefly
The Fire also has yet another physical button and this one is used to trigger the Fire's new Firefly feature. While users have been able to use their smartphone cameras to scan barcodes and QR stamps, Firefly takes image based searching to a new level by identifying physical objects. While using the feature, virtual fireflies will gather around any object captured by the phone's camera to identify and track down the object on Amazon's digital retail space. What's more, the feature can be used to identify songs, TV Shows, and Movies based a small snippet of audio similar to Shazam for X-Ray information or a link to buy it from Amazon. In some non-commercially oriented uses, Firefly could be used to identify paintings. The feature can also extrapolate text from a sign saving users the process of typing in a phone number and other information manually. Price For now the Amazon Fire Phone is only available on AT&T for starting price of $199 (about £120, AU$210) for the 32GB version with a two-year contract. Similarly, the Samsung Galaxy S5 comes at $199 (about £120, AU$210) but the big blue carrier only has a 16GB model available. A similarly specced iPhone 5S can be had for $249.99 (about £147, AU$265.71) with a two -ear contract on AT&T. The LG G3's availability is still questionable except for a rumor it will launch on Verizon come this July 17 for a yet to be announce price. Very early verdictIt's clear Amazon is trying to build on its successful run of tablets by first announcing Fire TV and now a Fire Phone. It's not a truly stand out phone on specs alone but thanks to the company's massive cache of digital content and a few unique features, the Fire is a tantalizing new wrinkle in the mobile space. Much of the talk surrounding the Fire up to its reveal pinned a new 3D interface as being the phone's most stand out feature. But in reality it's not parallax or a true three-dimensional experience, which leaves us a bit disappointed. It's too early to call the Amazon Fire a sure buy handset, we'll wait - and all users should - until we see the interface first hand and run the phone's unique Firefly feature through a ringer of real world objects.       | In Depth: Amazon Fire Phone: 8 things you need to know Jun 18th 2014, 21:09, by JR Bookwalter 
Price, release date, Firefly and 3DRumored almost since the debut of the original Kindle Fire tablet, Amazon has taken the wraps off its very first smartphone - the Fire Phone. The 4.7-inch handset is Jeff Bezos and Co.'s attempt to put its e-tail services into consumers pockets, but the phone has a number of tech tricks up its sleeves that may make it a serious smartphone contender. Or, they could end up a bunch of gimmicks people scurry into AT&T stores to play with and slink away without actually buying a device. Before the Amazon phone hits stores July 25, we've rounded up the eight things you'll want to know first about the Amazon phone. 1. PriceLet's get the bad news out of the way right up front: Despite endless rumors that Amazon would subsidize some or all of the hardware or data costs for members of its annual Prime service, The Fire Phone starts at $199 (about £117, AU$213) for 32GB - and that price requires a two-year agreement with exclusive carrier AT&T. AT&T Next customers in the US can also from two plans with no annual contract, no activation fee and no down payment starting at $27.09 per month with a 24-month installment agreement and the option to upgrade (with qualified trade-in) after 18 monthly payments. 
While 32GB is a nice doubling of storage capacity compared to something like the base model iPhone 5S with 16GB, the news gets worse for shoppers hoping to avoid contracts entirely, which will require shelling out $649 (about £382, AU$691) up front. The 64GB version runs $299.99 (about £176, AU$320) on contract and $749.99 (about £441, AU$798) off. On the plus side, for a limited time each Fire comes with a full year of Amazon Prime, which normally costs $99 (£79, AU$105) per year. And yes, that includes current members, who will get an additional year tacked on for good measure. Last but not least, Fire also includes 1,000 Amazon Coins for a limited time, which equates to $10 (about £5, AU$10.64worth of apps, games or in-app purchases from the Amazon Appstore. 2. Release dateFor US customers, the Fire Phone is available to pre-order starting today from Amazon's website, but the device won't land in the hands of early adopters until Friday, July 25. Although there's no word yet on when Fire will be available internationally, Amazon confirmed the handset is ready for international roaming; new apps or music can be purchased abroad with a US credit card, although movies and TV shows can't be steamed outside of the 50 states. 3. FireflyFire comes with a dedicated Firefly button on the left-hand side, which can be pressed whenever the user wants to identify something, such as a song playing on the radio, a movie or TV show currently being watched or even one of more than 70 million products sold by Amazon, including household items and packaged media such as video games, DVDs and CDs. But Firefly is more than just a shopaholic's best friend: The technology can also be used to scan web or email addresses, phone numbers, QR and bar codes and more, and Firefly enabled apps such as iHeartRadio or StubHub bring the fun to third-party content as well. 
Amazon touts Firefly's ability to recognize 245,000 movies and TV episodes plus 160 live television channels, as well as 35 million songs from the Amazon Music catalog; the company's IMDb service will also power X-Ray, which is capable of providing second screen information on actors, synopsis and more. 4. Dynamic PerspectiveRemember all those rumors that Amazon was working on a smartphone capable of displaying glasses-free 3D? Well, Fire Phone sort-of has that with "a custom-designed sensor system" called Dynamic Perspective, which responds to how the user holds, views or moves in relation to the device. In addition to offering a more immersive experience for apps and games, Dynamic Perspective offers a variety of one-handed shortcuts - no more tapping around with mere mortal fingers because menus and shortcuts can be called up without touching the screen. 
For example, a tilt of the device swipes out left or right panels for navigating menus, while a swivel action jumps directly to notifications. Auto-scroll makes it easy to keep reading endlessly, and peek declutters the screen and enables quick actions when needed. Mayday, apps, hardware and more5. MaydayFirst introduced with the Kindle Fire HDX line, Amazon's award-winning, on-device customer service Mayday is also integrated into the Fire Phone, promising free, live tech support in 15 seconds or less. No appointment is required and a Mayday rep is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long. 
As part of Amazon's exclusive partnership with AT&T, Mayday support will also extend to the carrier's 4G LTE cellular network, although normal data charges will apply. Better to keep those Mayday sessions to a minimum when Wi-Fi isn't available. 6. CameraAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos went to great lengths during the launch event to tout the Fire Phone's more capable camera system, which apparently puts rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 (images too blurry) and even the iPhone 5S (too noisy) to shame. That's because Fire Phone has a feature both of those lack: Optical Image Stabilization, which works with the custom-tuned 13-megapixel image sensor to produce "crisp, beautiful images" as well as "stunning 1080p" HD video, according to Amazon's hype machine. 
Perhaps more importantly, the dedicated Firefly button on the side of the handset also doubles as a quick-launch trigger for the camera, ready to fire off shots in as little as one second. That's for the standard-issue backside. On the front we see a bit more Amazon flare. The company not only has a 2.1MP front-facing camera, but it's also included four low-power infrared cameras at each corner to keep track of users' movements. This way, the Dynamic Perspective effect can follow a face as it moves. If that doesn't impress, Amazon is also throwing in free, unlimited cloud storage for full-resolution photos taken with the Fire Phone, with automatic video backup to Amazon Cloud Drive so you'll finally be able to take advantage of that 5GB of free cloud storage. 7. Apps and gamesTo the surprise of virtually no one, the Amazon phone is once again a gated community offering Amazon's own built-in apps (which now includes Messaging, Maps, Weather and more) as well as more than 240,000 titles available from the Amazon Appstore. (Contrary to overly ambitious rumors, there's no Google Play Store to be found here.) 
The good news is that favorites such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Pinterest, Instagram, Pandora, Netflix and Whatsapp are all present and accounted for, and Amazon continues to offer a free app every single day, which will certainly help new Fire Phone owners build up a library on the cheap. 8. HardwareImpressive Dynamic Perspective sensor system aside, Amazon hasn't skimped on the rest of the Fire Phone hardware, packing a zippy 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB RAM inside, along with Adreno 330 graphics for fluid video and gaming playback. Those chips power a 4.7-inch HD "ultra-bright" display said to be readable indoors or out, along with enough juice for 22 hours of talk time, 285 hours of standby, 65 hours of audio or 11 hours of video playback. 
Fire Phone also comes equipped with nine LTE bands, four GSM bands and five UMTS bands capable of international roaming along with 802.11ac wireless, NFC and Bluetooth support. Of note, it's not Bluetooth LE, making wearable connections impossible for now. On the audio front, Fire Phone includes a pair of Dolby Digital Plus-infused speakers along with a premium, tangle-free headset touted as both "ergonomically designed and technically tuned for amazing sound." Will the Amazon Fire Phone be enough to snuff out the current inferno of smartphone heavyweights, let alone the presumably white-hot iPhone 6 when it arrives later this year? We'll have to wait until July 25 to find out.       | Updated: Meet the Amazon Fire Phone Jun 18th 2014, 18:58, by Michelle Fitzsimmons 
Update: Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility has noted that the Amazon Fire Phone will be exclusive to US carrier, AT&T. Pre-orders for the phone start today. You can choose a two-year contract or AT&T Next for zero down with no activations. The 32GB flavor is $199.99 on a two-year contract. The Next plan is $27 per month. The Amazon Fire Phone will start shipping July 25 with 12 months of Amazon Prime included for new customers, and tacked on to existing Prime memberships. Original story ... The day has finally arrived: the Amazon phone is official. Perhaps the worst-kept smartphone secret in the world, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the device during an event in Seattle. He preluded the announcement by saying he's always asked if Amazon would build a phone. Today, the he answered that question. As expected, it comes with four front-facing infrared cameras support this feature, bringing the phone's total up to six snappers. It features a 4.7-inch IPS LCD HD display, and it's a size that's optimized for one-handed use, Bezos said. Gorilla Glass has been slathered on both sides - as in the front and the back, with a rubber frame. A quad-core 2.2GHz processor fuels the Fire Phone, and graphics rely on an Adreno 330. It is full of 2GB of RAM. The screen displays at 590 nits of brightness, and has a circular polarizer so you can look at it outside with sunglasses from any angle. On the rear is an as-expected 13MP snapper with OIS and an f/2.0 lens, the widest aperture of any smartphone on the market. The Fire Phone even features a dedicated hardware camera button. Curious about sound? Well there are dual-stereo speakers with Dolby Digital plus surround sound. Accessories and oodles of featuresMagnetic headphones that are supposed to be tangle-free, thanks to the flat cables, will come packaged with the Amazon Fire Phone. With such a highly touted camera and photo functions, Amazon is also throwing in free unlimited photo storage on Amazon Cloud Drive. Various apps will be on board the Fire Phone, including Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus and ESPN. The phone will also have second screen and X-Ray abilities where you can "fling" video from your phone to your Amazon TV while X-Ray gives you details on the video you're watching. The familiar MayDay feature will also of course be on the phone - and will work over Wi-Fi or on 3G and 4G. Firefly: the ultimate shopping toolThe new app Firefly uses the Fire Phone's built-in camera to recognize over 100 million different objects. These include a wide variety of items including, DVDs, phone numbers, QR codes, CDs, URLs, games and bar codes. Once that the app recognizes an object, users will be able to purchase it on Amazon right from their device. 'Dynamic perspective'Not entirely 3D and not parallax - what exactly is on the Fire Phone's interface? Well dynamic perspective is a bit in between 3D and parallax; it basically adjusts a 3D image to match your gaze. Lockscreens and wallpapers will definitely have the effect but Bezos also showed off the phone rendering buildings on maps with dynamic perspective. It's not "pop out at you parrallax" 3D, it's more like, well, "dynamic perspective." It's sort of 3D, but it's sort of just giving you a clearer view as you move your head. The building - the Empire State, to be exact - looked like it was coming out of the Amazon phone's screen, and moved as the user moved. You can tilt the phone to see what's "tucked" underneath the edges of the screen. You can also tilt the phone to see various items you're shopping for, to achieve the effect.       | Amazon Fire Phone price and exclusive carrier release confirmed Jun 18th 2014, 18:43, by Michael Rougeau 
The world has finally met the Amazon Fire Phone. Amazon unveiled the Fire Phone at a special event, revealing that it will launch July 25 in the US exclusively on AT&T. The Amazon Fire Phone will launch at $199 (about £120, AU$210) for the 32GB version and $299 (about £175, AU$320) for the 64GB with a two-year contract on AT&T. Alternately the Fire will be available for $27.09 a month on Next 18 or $31.25/month on AT&T on Next 12. Off contract, the new phone runs a hefty $649.99 (about £382, AU$691) and $749.99 (about £441, AU$798). Amazon Fire Phone specsThe Amazon Fire Phone sports a 4.7-inch screen, a 2.2GHz processor with Adreno 330 graphics, 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP camera with optical image stabilization and an industry-leading f/2.0 lens. The handset also has a new feature called Firefly, which uses a dedicated button to recognize printed phone numbers, books, DVDs, CDs, QR codes and barcodes and make it easier to buy things. It also has a special interfaced called Dynamic Perspective that tracks users' eyes to display 3D-like images. We'll be on the look out for further carrier and global release details, but for now, it's not looking like the Fire's reach will extend far.       | Firefly brings visual search and shopping to the Amazon Fire Phone Jun 18th 2014, 18:20, by klee 
Amazon introduced it's own Fire Phone today and while it integrates practically every Amazon service already in the world one new feature the handset brings is Firefly. The new app uses the Fire Phone's built in camera to recognize over 100 million different objects. These include a wide variety of items including, DVDs, phone numbers, QR codes, CDs, URLs, games, and bar codes. The camera can automatically recognize objects and this is visualized on the user's screen as a swarm of fireflies that arrange themselves around the item. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos demoed Firefly on stage to identify multiple objects including a book, jar of Nutella, and can containing the card game Spot It. Of course, once that the app recognizes an object users will be able to purchase it on Amazon right from their device. Similar to MayDay, Firefly gets its own dedicated physical button to launch the feature. Mockingbird
In addition to physical objects, Firefly can also recognize music and television shows similar to Shazam's audio searching features. Beyond finding the corresponding music track on Amazon's MP3 library, Firefly can connect with other apps including iHeartRadio to start a radio station based on the tune. Firefly can also plug directly with Shazam and Amazon Music. When listening to TV shows and movies Firefly will send over the corresponding X-Ray data, which relays supplementary information on the TV series and characters in the show. Amazon boasts that Firefly can identify 245,000 movies and TV episodes, as well as 160 live TV channels. Anything Firefly searchers for can also be, you guessed it, bought. In a one other neat applications, Firefly can also identify paintings and pull up a Wikipedia entry about the artistic work within seconds. Visual searchSeamless visual search is no small feat and Bezos touted that the Fire Phone can do this thanks to semantic boosting and cloud computing. Typically any object will have be hard for a computer to identify thanks to glare, wrinkles, and natural curves. Specifically for text, semantic boosting improves character recognition so that the Fire Phone can identify a phone number correctly. What's more, Amazon's software can strip out only the parts of the image that matter. As an example Amazon demonstrated Firefly could extract the text from a flyer posted to a wooden street pole, and turn it into a black and white image. To cap off the feature Bezos said there is currently a Firefly SDK available for developers to create their own applications using the visual search feature. Aside from iHeartRadio, Vivino is on board to scan wine labels and MyFitnessPal is developing an application that can look up nutritional information.       | |
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