Amazon is reportedly working on a new phone built around Alexa


Amazon is reportedly planning to re-enter the smartphone market more than 10 years after its last attempt. According to a  report, the mysterious phone is internally codenamed “Transformer” and is being developed by the company’s devices and services unit.

There isn’t a whole lot to go on right now, but it probably won’t surprise many to learn that the phone will likely lean heavily on AI. According to Reuters’ sources, functionality would be a core part of the experience, but Amazon wouldn’t necessarily build a custom OS around its voice assistant. The phone would make buying products on Amazon and using services like Prime Music and Prime Video “easier than ever,” and may bypass traditional app stores.

Reuters reports that the Transformer project is being led by the recently established ZeroOne, an Amazon devices unit headed up by ex-Microsoft executive and Xbox co-founder J Allard, who was also one of the creators of Zune. Allard joined Amazon last year to lead a “a special projects team dedicated to inventing breakthrough consumer product categories.”

The development team has reportedly considered launching both a traditional smartphone and a so-called “dumbphone,” which would presumably strip away anything that needlessly distracted you from the Amazon empire. Reuters’ anonymous sources suggest the latter could help combat screen addiction by offering fewer features.

ZeroOne is apparently inspired by the ultra-minimalist , suggesting that Amazon might be reluctant to take on the flagship devices of Apple and Samsung. The report adds that the Transformer phone could even be positioned as a secondary handset.

This, of course, would not be Amazon’s first crack at the smartphone business. The company launched the Fire Phone in 2014, an ambitious and interesting device that ultimately to tempt people away from the more established smartphone ecosystems. It’s widely remembered as perhaps the company’s biggest hardware misstep.

With analysts an unprecedented decline in the smartphone market in 2026, now seems like a risky time for Amazon to try again, and Reuters was unable to determine exactly how much the company has committed to the Transformer project. Sources also wouldn’t rule out it being scrapped altogether if the company’s priorities suddenly shifted.



Source link

  • Related Posts

    Lots of Apple devices, Galaxy S26, Dell XPS 16 and more

    Apple already announced a lot of new devices in 2026 and we’ve been busy reviewing them all. In this installment of our bi-weekly roundup, we revisit the MacBook Neo, iPhone…

    Best Air Purifiers of 2026: Don’t Suffer Bad Winter Air Quality With These Top Models

    To help inform our air purifier picks, we gathered 12 of the newest and most popular models at the CNET Labs product testing facility in Louisville, Kentucky, where we put…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    Lots of Apple devices, Galaxy S26, Dell XPS 16 and more

    Lots of Apple devices, Galaxy S26, Dell XPS 16 and more

    'Wowzer!' – Shoes fly and athletes collide in mixed relay

    'Wowzer!' – Shoes fly and athletes collide in mixed relay

    Canada’s Einarson into world curling semifinals

    Canada’s Einarson into world curling semifinals

    Property taxes are skyrocketing. But states are learning that cutting them has major consequences.

    Property taxes are skyrocketing. But states are learning that cutting them has major consequences.

    Japan beat Australia to lift Women’s Asian Cup title | Football News

    Japan beat Australia to lift Women’s Asian Cup title | Football News

    Big money flows into state attorney general races as legal battles shape American politics

    Big money flows into state attorney general races as legal battles shape American politics