A few years ago, Amazon launched the ill-fated Amazon Fire Android-based smartphone. While it was super affordable, its main drawback was that it didn’t support Google Services and relied on the Amazon App Store. This, in turn, resulted in the exclusion of Google apps which many people use and rely on.
According to Gadgets 360, Amazon is eyeing a comeback to the Android smartphone market with a new device being branded as “Ice.” Fortunately, the rumoured smartphone is expected to run the latest version of Android and not a customized OS like the Fire smartphone before it. As such, it will support the full slate of Google products such as the Google Play Store and Gmail. Unfortunately, the smartphone is supposedly being developed for markets like India and not the United States or Europe.
One of the devices being tested features a display between 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch. Other specifications of the phone include a 13-megapixel rear-camera, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. The phone runs Android 7.1.1 and comes with Google’s AI Assistant, said a source cited above. The phone, which houses a Snapdragon 435 SoC and a fingerprint scanner on the back, is likely to be priced at around Rs 6,000 (roughly $93), though the exact price will depend upon the time of launch.
Interestingly enough, the Ice smartphone doesn’t seem to be running Alexa, but that does make sense considering neither Alexa nor the Amazon Echo speakers are available in India yet.
Given the stranglehold Apple iPhones and other Android smartphones — Samsung, LG, Motorola, Huawei, and a slate of Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi and Micromax — already dominating sales, it’ll be interesting to see how an Amazon device would fare in emerging markets.
What do you think about the rumoured Amazon Ice Android smartphone? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
[button link=”http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/amazon-ice-smartphones-android-india-1707858″ icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Gadgets 360[/button]
