(Amazon)
CNET reports that the Amazon Fire Phone will be priced at $199 for the 32GB model, and $299 for the 64GB model. Those prices are for AT&T, and they require a two-year contract.
If you prefer an AT&T Next plan rather than a contract, the cost is just $27 per month. Additionally, the cost of the phone includes a year of Amazon Prime, for free. Normally, Amazon Prime costs $99 per year (unless you know these sneaky tricks to get Amazon Prime for less!)
The Amazon Fire Phone has five features that make it stand out from the rest of the smartphones on the market. Do these features make the Fire Phone a must-buy? If you want to learn about the five best features of this new phone, read on to discover if this phone is right for you.
1. Firefly
Amazon’s new Firefly scanning service can recognize art, TV shows, phone numbers, URLs and more http://t.co/EFCoDUGJel by @beijingdou
— The Next Web (@TheNextWeb) June 18, 2014
Say what you will about Amazon creating a commerce machine that masquerades as a smartphone, but the Firefly feature is still pretty darn cool. While there’s clearly the hope here that users will take a picture of an item, research it, and ultimately buy it through Amazon, that does diminish how handy this feature is. With a database of 100 million images, Firefly is a great way to identify more than just consumer goods: it recognizes art and other items, too.
Firefly is definitely geared towards getting you to buy stuff, but it’s also a handy visual search tool. With Firefly-enabled apps like iHeartRadio and StubHub, you can create radio stations based on an identified artist.
2. Mayday
(Amazon)
Mayday is a button built right into the Fire Phone. Users can press the button to get access to customer support in about 15 seconds. Support is available 24/-7, 365 days a year. Normal data charges apply when you are using Mayday over the cellular network, however, so bear that in mind before hitting the button.
Mayday is actually very appealing to people with a high degree of technical skill, which seems counterintuitive. However, anyone who is known as the “family tech wizard” has probably gotten tired of all their relatives calling for tech advice. Mayday is a feature that can take care of your parent’s or grandparent’s technical needs, freeing up your time and causing you less stress.
3. Games & Apps With Dynamic Perspective
(Amazon)
The tilt controls and 3D imaging used in the Fire Phone are being used in a lot of cool apps, including navigation tools and games. At the launch event, it was revealed that some games will let you use Dynamic Perspective to peek around corners.
4. One-Handed Control Shortcuts
(Amazon)
For people who tend to use their phones while standing on a crowded commuter train or while juggling an armful of groceries, the ability to use some one-handed control shortcuts is a nice UI touch.
You can set the phone to auto-scroll at a set speed, enabling you to read an ebook or article without having to constantly touch the screen. Additionally, you can use tilt controls to bring up navigation menus, or swivel the phone for access to notifications or settings.
5. A Free Year of Amazon Prime
Prime membership is cool, but the funny video above outlines ten weird things you might not want to buy on Amazon.
While the ability to silence your phone for a set number of hours is pretty cool, the best feature of the Amazon Fire Phone isn’t a phone feature, but a bonus feature. Everyone who buys an Amazon Fire Phone gets a year of Amazon Prime for free (a $99 value.) With the launch of Amazon Prime Music and the addition of select HBO titles to Amazon Instant Video, having an Amazon Prime membership has never been so appealing.
You can buy the new Amazon Fire Phone right now from Amazon.
