Amazon is making an Alexa phone
Codenamed 'Transformer,' Amazon's minimalist phone draws inspiration from the $700 Light Phone and ChatGPT's mini-apps.
Amazon is reportedly developing a new smartphone, internally codenamed 'Transformer,' marking its first major foray back into the handset market since the failed Fire Phone was discontinued in 2015. The project is being led by J Allard, a former Microsoft executive known for his work on the Zune and Xbox, within Amazon's ZeroOne group. The company is exploring designs that take significant inspiration from minimalist 'dumbphones' like the $700 Light Phone, which features a black-and-white display and lacks a conventional app store.
A central focus of the 'Transformer' phone is deeply integrating AI capabilities, with Amazon's Alexa assistant at its core—though it may not serve as the primary operating system. To avoid the app availability problems that plagued the Fire Phone, Amazon is considering a model that relies on AI-powered mini-apps, similar to those in OpenAI's ChatGPT, rather than a full app store. This strategic pivot comes as Amazon pushes to keep pace with rivals in the AI assistant space, despite recent user complaints about ads and slower responses in the LLM-powered 'Alexa Plus' upgrade. There is no confirmed timeline or price for the device's potential release.
- Project is codenamed 'Transformer' and led by former Microsoft/Zune executive J Allard.
- Design draws from minimalist 'dumbphones' like the $700 Light Phone, potentially avoiding a traditional app store.
- Core focus is AI integration with Alexa, possibly using ChatGPT-like mini-apps instead of native applications.
Why It Matters
Represents a major bet on AI-first hardware, challenging the smartphone status quo with a minimalist, assistant-centric device.