Amazon's high-end smartphone to use 4 sensors for 3D gesture and eye-tracking input

The oft-rumored Amazon phone is back in the news on Wednesday. The word today is that Amazon has hooked up with a number of Asian compact camera module manufacturers to allow for 3D gesture and eye tracking input on a new smartphone. The phone, which is scheduled for a release in the second quarter of 2014, will have new and unique methods of inputting information. It is expected that Taiwanese manufacturer HTC will be working on the handset with Amazon.

Insiders say that the phone will have six compact camera modules, four of which will be VGA senors placed at each corner of the device in order to catch 3D gestures and for eye tracking. The other two camera modules will be for the 13MP rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-facing snapper. The six modules will be made by three firms, Primax, Liteon, and Sunny Optical. Primax will be the primary source with the company providing more than half of the sensors being used.

The phone is part of a project codenamed "Mr. Smith" at Amazon which includes this high-end model which will also feature a 4.7 inch screen and a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. The lenses for this phone run $40 alone. This high-end model would compete with the Apple iPhone 5s, the Samsung Galaxy S5 (which should be out by the time the Amazon phone is released) and other top-shelf models. In addition, Amazon is also working on an entry-level model. Amazon's suppliers are producing parts on the assumption that Amazon will have 5 million to 10 million units of its new high-end smartphone shipped in 2014.


source: AppleInsider