Amazon has built a phone that makes it even easier to shop through the world’s biggest online retailer.
Chief Executive Jeff Bezos on Wednesday unveiled the Fire Phone, which comes with technology that helps people identify items in real life and buy them online.
For example, the new Firefly app will harness the phone’s camera to scan a book cover and will enable the microphone to determine the name of a song or a TV program.
To further entice customers, Amazon is throwing in a free year of its Prime service, a $99 value that includes free two-day shipping on many items, as well as unlimited video and music streaming.
The phone is being sold exclusively through AT&T and costs $199 to $299 with a two-year contract. Without a contract, it goes for north of $650.
The 4.7-inch-screen device, with 3D viewing, unlimited photo storage and one-hand scrolling for easier reading, underscores the company’s role as the biggest online bookseller.
Amazon shares rose 2.7 percent, or $8.76, to $334.38.
Nevertheless, analysts said Bezos may be too late to make a dent in a saturated market.
“I’m not sure it’s different enough,” said Sarah Kahn, a telecommunications industry analyst with IBISWorld. “It would have to be really revolutionary to convert faithful iPhone and Android users.”
What’s more, the exclusive arrangement requires non-AT&T users to pay fees to switch carriers, she said.
It could, however, be a hit for first-time smartphone buyers, Kahn said. About 70 percent of Americans own a smartphone, up from 61 percent in June 2013, according to Nielsen.