Amazon is reportedly developing an AI-centric smartphone

Amazon’s second smartphone could forego an app store. Amazon is developing a new smartphone over a decade after discontinuing the Fire Phone, Reuters reported today, citing four anonymous “people familiar with the matter.” Reuters said the phone is codenamed Transformer but couldn’t confirm what it might cost, how much Amazon has invested into development thus far, or how much Amazon expects to make off the device. Like any product reportedly under development, it’s possible that Amazon will never release the phone. Reuters’ sources noted that Transformer could be cancelled over finances or a change in strategy. When reached for comment by Ars Technica, an Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on Reuters’ report. Amazon reportedly considered making a dumbphone but is now working on a smartphone built around its own services. Alexa could potentially serve as the phone’s operating system, but Reuters’ sources said that’s not certain and did not elaborate on how the system would work. Amazon’s team also wants the phone to make it easy to shop via Amazon and partners like Grubhub and to stream content from Prime Video and Prime Music. AI integration is a “key focus” of Transformer, p