Amazon’s Fire Phone could be a hot holiday item

Now there’s a phone that puts the Amazon store and all that accompanying “retail therapy” right in people’s pockets. It’s a pretty slick looking little device, so here’s fair warning to parents worried about kids getting caught up in consumer culture that you may see this on some wish lists. [Of course, this is not to say that Amazon.com with all its convenience isn’t already in our pockets (and wallets); as much as I love hanging out and shopping in independent bookshops, I’ve been known to buy and read a book or two on my iPhone, using Amazon and its Kindle app.]

Called the Fire Phone (to go with Amazon’s Kindle Fire), this device sort of runs on Google’s Android operating system, but modified, so that not all Android apps will run on it – which is only really a problem if the 240,000 some odd apps available in Amazon’s Appstore aren’t enough (Apple’s App Store and Google Play “each have about five times as many offerings,” Wired reports). HOWEVER, I don’t know whether parents will see this as good or bad: Kids and other media-sharers will probably be dismayed to find that Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube won’t work on this phone. Amazon may have to fix that! What the phone will be great for, Wired says, is 3D effects and hands-free navigation. Its 3D technology makes the phone “a little diorama box, with stunning effects for 3-D maps, games, and homescreen wallpaper,” according to Wired.

“Pricing for the Fire Phone will be $200 for the 32GB version and $300 for the 64GB one. Both of those are with two-year contracts. It will only be available on AT&T for the time being, and will go on sale July 25th,” Wired reports.