Amazon's New Smartphone: Transformer

0:00On March 20th, Amazon is quietly working on a new smartphone called Transformer inside its devices unit. This comes over a decade after the fire phone flopped hard in 2014 when the company took a $170 million hit and pulled the plug after just 14 months. The new project aims to create a mobile hub that ties into Alexa and pushes Amazon services like shopping and prime video all day long. Here this week, details emerged about how Transformer focuses on artificial intelligence to personalize everything from buying on Amazon to ordering food through partners. It might skip traditional app stores altogether, letting AI handle tasks without downloads. Alexa would play a big role, but not as the main operating system. People close to the project see this as Jeff Bezos' push for voice-driven computing, like in Star Trek. Finalists warn it's tough though, folks are hooked on iPhones and Android apps, and smartphone sales could drop 13% next year due to rising costs.

1:01Still, Amazon's past stumble doesn't rule out another shot. The effort falls under a new group called Zero-One, led by former Microsoft exec Jay Allard with the vice's head panel's panel overseeing broader fixes like, a $400 Android tablet on the way. They've explored both full-featured phones and simpler dumb phones to fight screen addiction, drawing inspiration from minimalist gadgets like the, light phone. For now, no carriers are involved, and the timeline stays fuzzy. It could get shelved if plans change. This fits Amazon's bigger AI drive, especially after revamping Alexa as they chase rivals in consumer tech.