sciencetech-blog

comments

On the eve of Apple unveiling its next-generation handsets, Amazon has announced its Fire holophone will soon be available to buy in the UK. 

The 4.7-inch phone was introduced in the US earlier this year and goes on sale in the UK on 30 September, exclusively on O2.

The retail giant will be hoping to lure customers away from Apple with the Fire phone's 3D screen, 13MP camera and a year's free Amazon Prime membership. 

The Fire phone (pictured) is launching in the UK on 30 September on 02 Refresh for £33 a month, with no upfront costs. For a limited time, customers will also receive a year of Amazon Prime membership including Prime Instant Video, Kindle Owners' Lending Library and one-day shipping

This membership includes Prime Instant Video, Kindle Owners' Lending Library and unlimited one-day shipping for free. 

The announcement comes less than a week after the Seattle-based firm unveiled plans to bring its TV streaming box, Fire TV, to the UK for the first time as well.

Amazon Fire comes with a unique screen that uses four cameras built into the front of the phone that track head movement.

These cameras and movement sensors position images on the screen to create a 3D, holographic effect.

Amazon calls it Dynamic Perspective and claim it is one of the reasons the Fire Phone can challenge rivals such as the iPhone.

HOW DOES THE AMAZON FIRE PHONE COMPARE TO ITS RIVALS?

HANDSET	DISPLAY	RESOLUTION	Pixels Per Inch (PPI)	STORAGE	OPERATING SYSTEM	FRONT CAMERA	REAR CAMERA	PRICE
Amazon Fire	4.7-inches	720 x 1280	315	32GB and 64GB	Android 4.4 KitKat	2.1MP	13MP	TBA
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge	5.6-inches	1600 x 2560	524	32GB and 64GB	Android 4.4 KitKat	3.7MP	16MP	TBA
iPhone 5S	4-inches	640 x 1136	326	16, 32 and 64GB	iOS 7	1.2MP	8MP	£549

The Fire phone (being demonstrated by Mr Bezos) comes with Dynamic Perspective - a unique screen that uses four cameras built into the front of the phone that track head movement. These cameras and movement sensors position images on the screen to create a 3D effect

This 4.7-inch screen has a 720 x 1280 resolution, and a 315 Pixels Per Inch (PPI), compared to the iPhone 5S' 640 x 1136 resolution, and 326 PPI. 

The Fire phone's Firefly feature (pictured) lets users scan food, DVDs, music and games, and instantly link to the product on Amazon

The Amazon Fire phone also has a 13MP rear-facing camera, a 2.1 front-facing sensor, plus a minimum of 32GB of storage.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, said: 'Fire is a premium phone with breakthrough technologies Dynamic Perspective and Firefly, access to exclusive features including live video tech support with the Mayday button and free unlimited cloud photo storage, plus a full year of Prime membership-for £0 on the £33 O2 Refresh tariff only from O2.' 

The new phone also aims to beat its rivals by taking full advantage of Amazon's popular, existing services, with its Firefly feature. 

This app lets users scan food, DVDs, music and games, and instantly link to the product on Amazon.

The technology giant has also opened up this software to other app developers, and as a result relevant results will appear from apps such as MyFitnessPal - when users scan food - telling them the number of calories in a product.

Apps, such as StubHub have also already been integrated into the feature, meaning that when users scan a CD, not only will Amazon links appear, but also live tour dates.

Other features include X-Ray, that helps users explore books, including characters, ideas and background, by tapping the screen. 

Second Screen lets users beam TV shows and movies from a Fire phone to a Fire TV, PlayStation or any other Miracast-enabled device.

And the device additionally comes with free unlimited cloud storage of photos taken with Fire, automatically backed-up wirelessly across Amazon devices and Cloud Drive apps

The Fire Phone will face stiff competition, including Samsung's latest Galaxy Note Edge, unveiled at the IFA technology show in Berlin last week, and the new iPhone 6 expected to be announced tomorrow.

The 4.7-inch phone was introduced by Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos (picutred) in the US earlier this year

This chart reveals how the Amazon Fire phone compares to the Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 5S

However Amazon believe the native features of the Fire Phone will make it stand out - including the integration of the company's Mayday service which connects users with the company's help desk via video call. Amazon confirmed this would all work in collaboration with O2's help centre.

Amazon's director of product management for the Fire Phone, Cameron Janes added: 'We're very focused on the customer and we'll look at feedback and our customers will tell us where we've done well and where we need to work and continue to get better. We think we've put out a good product ultimately and our customers are going to be able to hopefully agree with that.'

Pre-orders for the Amazon Fire Phone are available from today on O2, with the smartphone shipping on 30 September.

Customers who pay £33 per month, for example, will get the 32GB Amazon Fire Phone with no upfront payment and unlimited minutes, texts and 2GB of 4G data per month. 

After they've covered the cost of the phone through these monthly payments, their monthly tariff will drop to £18 per month.

It will be made available on Pay-As-You-Go at launch, with prices being announced on the day. 

The Fire phone's 4.7-inch screen has a 720 x 1280 resolution, and 315 Pixels Per Inch (PPI), compared to the iPhone 5S' (pictured) 640 x 1136 resolution, and 326 PPI. Other features include X-Ray, that helps users explore books by tapping the screen and Second Screen that lets users beam TV shows to their Fire TV

The Fire Phone will face stiff competition, including Samsung's latest Galaxy Note Edge (pictured), unveiled at the IFA technology show in Berlin last week, and the new iPhone 6 expected to be announced tomorrow