Surprise move from Amazon: Artificial intelligence phone is on the way

It has been claimed that Amazon is working on a new hardware project in order to gain a stronger position in the competition in the field of artificial intelligence. According to information shared by Reuters, the company is in the process of developing a phone centered on artificial intelligence capabilities. Amazon, which had previously gained an early advantage with Alexa-supported smart speakers, nevertheless could not benefit from the productive artificial intelligence trend to the extent expected. Following this situation, a productive artificial intelligence update was released for Alexa and the Alexa+ chat bot was introduced. Despite this, it seems that the company is looking for a different approach on the hardware side.

Fire Phone, Amazon’s previous smartphone initiative, fell well below expectations and was withdrawn from the market in a short time. Although this experience was negative for the company, there have been significant changes in the field of mobile technology and artificial intelligence in the intervening period. It is stated that the newly developed device may be in a different position than the traditional smartphone concept. On the other hand, this approach also coincides with the “simpler phone” trend that has attracted attention recently.

Amazon can change habits with its artificial intelligence phone

According to the leaked information, the device developed under the code name “Transformer” will highlight artificial intelligence-supported tasks instead of classical application-oriented use. Users can place orders through Amazon, access Prime Video and Prime Music content, or order food from services such as Grubhub, all through artificial intelligence. In addition, it is aimed to provide a more limited and controlled experience against problems such as screen addiction and constant content consumption. However, it is not yet clear how this approach will be received by users.

Details regarding the technical infrastructure of the device remain unclear. According to internal sources, the renewed Alexa will be one of the basic components of the system. However, it is stated that Alexa will not function directly as an operating system. This strengthens the claims that the device may be Android-based. As a matter of fact, it is also said that Amazon may abandon the current Fire OS platform and switch directly to Android. However, it is noteworthy that artificial intelligence-focused devices such as Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin, which were previously developed based on Android, did not meet expectations.

It is stated that the project is carried out by a newly created team within Amazon called “ZeroOne”. The head of this team is J Allard, who previously worked at Microsoft on products such as Xbox and Zune. The involvement of such experienced names in the project indicates that the device can go beyond being just an experimental initiative. Despite this, the fact that Amazon has not officially confirmed the project increases the uncertainties.

Economic conditions and the increase in hardware costs are also among the factors that may affect the future of the project. Although interest in artificial intelligence-focused devices has increased, high production costs and limited user base may make it difficult for such products to become widespread. For this reason, a clear picture has not emerged as to whether the phone developed by Amazon will achieve commercial success.