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Amazon may be set to return to making smartphones, over a decade after the Fire Phone's failure.
Reuters quotes four anonymous sources familiar with Amazon’s upcoming plans who say the brand is actively working on a new mobile phone. It says the device is internally referred to as “Transformer,” and current plans suggest Amazon's unique angle would be to focus on its Alexa voice assistant.
Sources indicate that the device is intended to connect to Alexa Plus, the LLM-powered voice assistant normally used to interact with smart home gadgets or smart TVs. The phone would act as a way for people to interact with the assistant throughout the day, away from home.
The report says Amazon may lean toward AI capabilities rather than encouraging users to download traditional apps. Amazon's Alexa+ Store is a digital storefront where you can download apps like DoorDash or Uber to purchase services via the AI voice assistant on your home's speakers.
Amazon may expand this functionality to other third-party providers, thereby avoiding the need for apps. One of Amazon's biggest rivals, ChatGPT, introduced similar third-party app functionality to its own chatbot last year.
The sources say Amazon has yet to decide on an operating system for its phone. The original Fire Phone came with Amazon’s own software, Fire OS, which was a fork of Android.
This new report says Amazon's team has also explored multiple design ideas, including dumb phones inspired by the Light Phone series. The Light Phone III features a black-and-white matte OLED display and limited functionality to discourage some of the most addictive aspects of smartphone use.
Amazon is reportedly considering a dumb phone design to make this an additional device people would use alongside their typical Android phone or iPhone, rather than competing to become their main handset.
There’s no word yet on a release window for this new Amazon smartphone, and sources note it may not make it to a final release. They cautioned that the project may be scrapped if Amazon changes strategy, which suggests "Transformer" may be in the early stages of development.
Amazon has been pushing to improve its Alexa voice assistant amid rising competition from ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other chatbots. Amazon introduced its Alexa Plus update to all customers earlier this year, though the tool has proven controversial with users, with some online saying its functionality is limited.