The Amazon Fire Smartphone is packed with pretty impressive specs. Sporting a 4.7” display with a 1280 x 720 resolution. Running on the Fire 3.5.0 OS, a heavily modified version of Android, as used in the Amazon Kindle Fire Tablets. And fired up by a Quad-Core Snapdragon 800 CPU Processor, offering 2.2GHz speeds.

The Amazon Fire packs a 13MP rear-facing camera with various features such as multi-frame HDR, auto focus and optical image stabilisation. Combined with a 2.1MP front-facing camera, the Fire isn’t lacking in features or quality – but it isn’t knocking the ball out of the park either.

So, why the hype? What really is so special about the Amazon Fire Smartphone?

The Fire is here to change your retail experience

Well, the Amazon Fire isn’t here to rival Apple or Samsung with fancy mobile specs. It’s here to take the retail experience to a whole new level. Making your online shopping more instant and more convenient than ever before.

The Amazon Fire features ‘FireFly’. Firefly uses the Fire’s built-in camera to recognize over 100 million different objects. From DVDS, to phone numbers, QR codes, CDs, URLS, games, and bar codes. You could literally take a picture of something you want, and the Fire will tell you how to buy it on-line, as well as information on price and delivery – of course by using Amazon’s humongous online store. Better yet, you can then view the product in 3D using the Amazon Fire 3D interface.

Picture this

Picture this, you’re in an electronic shop and you’ve found the TV you want. A quick picture of the bar code, and your Amazon Fire will tell you different prices and delivery options. In fact the bar-code scanning and product-recognition functions alone can identify and price check more than 70 million products! From the new DVD you wanted, to the deck chair you’ve been eyeing up. All you have to do is snap it and you’ll find out in seconds if there’s a better deal. Chances are Amazon will have it cheaper, and therefore you will shop from them. That’s probably why a Free 12 Month subscription to Amazon Prime is included with the phone.

The Downfall? The Amazon Fire Phone may make consumer ‘show rooming’ in bricks and mortar stores more prominent than ever before. Heavily encouraging you to physically go and see the items you would like, but to spend your hard-earned cash online. This could cause even more problems for our high-street retailers.

Price and Launch

The Amazon Fire is currently available from $649.00, (that’s just £382.50!). Though price can increase dependent on the GB size you choose – 32GB or 64GB.

Launch in America is expected on July 25th 2014, but unfortunately the European release date is yet to be announced.

What are your opinions on the Amazon Fire Smartphone? Are you excited by a 3D interface and the new opportunities FireFly brings? Or do you feel that the new Amazon Device will take it’s retail dominance too far, putting an even heftier strain on your high-street shops?

We would love to hear from you.