A close-up look at Amazon’s Fire Phone

Amazon’s smartphone is no longer a rumor. The device, which was announced at an event earlier today in Seattle, is very real and coming to the US beginning July 25th on AT&T starting at $199.99 with a two-year contract. The handset is a first for Amazon, which so far has only dabbled in Kindle e-ink readers and tablets. The Fire Phone is the logical next step in that process, and has a lot in common with its Fire tablets, which also run a heavily modified version of Google’s Android.

The phone is unlike any other in that four sensors around the corners of its 4.7-inch HD display track head movement. Combined with other sensors inside the phone, and with special software Amazon is calling Dynamic Perspective, the Fire Phone will actually change what it’s showing on screen to match where you’re looking from, as well as make changes for how the phone is being held. The company’s also included a feature called Firefly that can identify physical objects like books and products, as well as audio and visual media like music, movies, and TV shows. All these things get links to Amazon’s store, of course. Scroll down to see the device, and some of these features close up.

Photography by Dan Seifert