After a long wait and many rumors the Amazon smartphone has become a reality. It’s called the Amazon Fire Phone and with it Amazon has launched many features. One of which is the scan and buy feature that allows you to scan any object and find it on Amazon’s website. Another unique feature is 3D viewing. Simply tilting the device one way or the other will show hidden info or scroll up or down on pages. Using what Amazon calls “Dynamic Perspective” you can also use the tilt as one-handed shortcuts to navigate the device. Since this feature is currently only available on Amazon, it may be hard to come across apps that utilize the many features of the Fire Phone. Though some apps are already capable of using these features and more are sure to come.
There are a few apps that will take advantage of Amazon’s “Dynamic Perspective” already, like the maps app that comes on the new Amazon Fire Phone. While in the Amazon Maps app, simply tilt the device after performing a “restaurant” search and you’ll see the Yelp reviews for the places marked on the map. While that’s pretty nifty, there are a few other apps to check out.
Gaming has a whole new meaning on the smartphone. Thanks to Dynamic Perspective on the Fire Phone, you can now use your head to interact with the game. Tilt your head and you can look behind corners in games like Tofu Fury, Lili, and Snow Spin. While gaming and maps are improved with the tilt features, there are other benefits to having your device made by an online retailer.
Though StubHub does utilize the Dynamic Perspective, it also takes advantage of being on a device that’s directly connected to Amazon’s website. Using a feature called FireFly on the Fire Phone, StubHub will use the device to listen to a song playing either in real life or through some speakers. Once they get the information of the song and artist you’re listening to, StubHub will help you find tickets to their next show. iHeartRadio uses FireFly to help you create playlists based on the artist you’re listening to as well. FireFly will give you these options after it hears a song, plus a few more options. You can buy the artists albums on Amazon, or even share the song with others. While music is awesome, some people really love movies and television, FireFly can help with that as well.
Using FireFly with IMDB, you can search actors, shows and movies by letting your device listen to what’s on. Simply open FireFly, and select the little television icon and it will start listening. No more wondering who an actor is in that show or where you’ve seen them before.
All of these features are nice, using StubHub, maps, IMDB, iHeart Radio, and a few games, Amazon’s Fire Phone definitely has some innovative collaborations. Still, they haven’t finished just yet. Amazon has announced that they will allow other apps to utilize the FireFly and Dynamic Perspective SDK’s soon. Firstly, developers will need to submit their applications before July 18th. Then they will be available in the Amazon App Store and have access to the SDK’s. Just in time for the devices to be shipped out on July 25th. What do you think so far? We have posted plenty of news about the device, and now want to know what you think. Let us know down below if the Amazon Fire Phone is something you’re excited for, or will you be passing this device up?