Amazon Smartphone With 3D Display Coming This Fall, Report Says

Amazon's hardware efforts will soon extend into the smartphone space, with the ecommerce giant debuting a new handset this fall, according to a report.

Following years of rumors, supposed leaks and analyst speculation, The Wall Street Journal on Friday claimed that Amazon is planning to announce its own handset in June.

Citing people familiar with the details, the WSJ said Amazon has been demonstrating the smartphone for developers in Seattle and San Francisco in recent weeks. The developers were reportedly required to visit hotel suites with heavy security in place in order to view the demonstrations.

Slated to begin shipping toward the end of September,the phone will reportedly feature four front-facing cameras or sensors to track the user's gaze, and offer a glasses-free 3D-viewing experience.

Previous rumors of an Amazon phone have generally focused on its mobile ecommerce possibilities, but this report includes tantalizingly specific details. Sources said Amazon's first order of handsets will be for 600,000 units, with Japan Display serving as at least one of the device's component manufacturers.

Although some say Amazon may be playing too far outside of its core competency by offering its own hardware, the Kindle has turned out to be popular device. According to a January report by ad firm Chitika Insights, which tracked post-Christmas share changes for tablet usage in 2013, the Kindle Fire fared the best in terms of eating away at the iPad's dominance in North America.

Now, nearly seven years after the Kindle's debut, it appears Amazon is ready to take on the far more challenging task of duplicating its tablet's success in a crowded smartphone space.

The WSJ report added that production of the device is expected to begin at the end of April.

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Amazon Unveils Barcode-Scanning, Voice-Recording Grocery Gadget

Not content with unveiling its Amazon Fire TV set-top box earlier this week, Amazon casually dropped a new gadget into the tech realm Friday — the Amazon Dash.

The Dash is part barcode-scanner, part voice recorder. It connects to Amazon's grocery delivery service, AmazonFresh, which is currently only available in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The promise of the Dash, as you can see in the (rather annoyingly child-narrated) video above, is that you can scan anything you need to buy again in your kitchen before you run out. For anything you don't have, there's a voice-recording button. Press it and whatever you say will be stored as a search the next time you visit the AmazonFresh website.

The company seems to be trying to make the point that the Dash is simple enough for kids to use, and durable enough to survive regular kitchen-based wear and tear.

The Dash is currently free but "by invitation only," according to its website, and no release date has been announced yet. You can sign up to get in line for one. We're not quite at the stage where your fridge will automatically re-order your milk when it sees you're running low, but the Dash looks like the next best thing.

IMAGE: AMAZON

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Fingerprint and Eye-Scanning Drones to Make Deliveries in UAE

Amazon drones may make quick deliveries to your house in the future, but the United Arab Emirates government is looking to add similar technology to its skies much sooner — within a year.

The UAE government detailed a prototype of a drone that would deliver official packages and personal documents such as driver's licenses and ID cards right to citizen doorsteps, per a Reuters report on Monday. To keep the cargo secure, the drones would be equipped with fingerprint and retina scanners to make sure they are delivering to the correct recipients.

“The UAE will try to deliver its government services through drones. This is the first project of its kind in the world,” said Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs in the UAE government, according to Reuters.

Gergawi said the drones are battery-operated and measure about 1.5 feet. The casing is white and features a UAE emblem.

Drones have been tested in Dubai for the past six months and will likely roll out in the next year, the report said. Eventually, the government plans to make the service available across the country.

But the initiative faces a few challenges. In addition to safety and tech issues, it also must withstand the dessert's summer hear and dust storms.

In December, Amazon announced that it would send a million flying drones into the air to deliver purchases through an initiative called Amazon Prime Air. Although the company said it is anticipating a 2015 rollout, it is still awaiting FAA approval, which could take years.

IMAGE: WOLFGANG VON BRAUCHITSCH/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

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Report: Amazon Preparing to Offer Kindle-Based Checkout System

Amazon is developing an in-store checkout system based on its Kindle tablet that would mark the online retailer's biggest effort yet to break into the burgeoning mobile payment industry as well as brick-and-mortar stores, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The report states that the checkout system could be coupled with website development and data analysis to provide smaller businesses with a suite of tools. For Amazon, the checkout system would provide a new batch of customer data.

This would bring Amazon into direct competition with Square and Paypal, which currently lead the physical mobile payment space.

Amazon has been linked to no shortage of ambitious projects as of late. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos made a splash with the announcement on 60 Minutes that the company had explored the use of drones for delivery. The company is also developing its media offerings, including original content, streaming video and even reports of a live television service.

Bezos has previously said he would be interested in venturing into the brick-and-mortar market, but would want to have a clear idea of how to do it differently.

Image:  TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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