Google dismisses rumors of Nexus demise

• by Ben Fox Rubin 
   @benfoxrubin
 



The Nexus 5.Josh Miller/CNET

Google is putting to rest any speculation that it would be killing off its Nexus line of smartphones and tablets and replace them with a new program called "Android Silver."

"People just get excited by concepts and forget why we do things," Google executive Dave Burke told ReadWrite. "We are still invested in Nexus."

He declined to discuss the Silver program with ReadWrite, but said comments that the Nexus line could be ending "is the totally wrong conclusion to make."

The Android Silver project reportedly involves manufacturers and wireless carriers being paid to make and sell premium devices that closely adhere to Google's specifications. Silver devices from manufacturers such as LG and Lenovo are expected to reach some markets as soon as next year. The devices could help Google better compete against Apple by giving Google greater control over creating high-end devices.Reports have been coming out this year that Google was planning to dump the Nexus brand -- which includes the Nexus 5 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet -- for either the Silver program or Google Play Edition products. Google is still expected to release a Nexus 8 tablet, though there was speculation that it would be one of the last new Nexus devices.

Burke, though, asserted a strong commitment to Nexus.

"It is a way of us explaining how we think Android should run," Burke said of the brand to ReadWrite. "It is a statement, almost a statement of purity in some respects. I don't see why we would ever turn away from that, it wouldn't make sense."

Samsung: We'll differentiate our Android Wear smartwatch over time

• by Shara Tibken 
   @sharatibken
 



Samsung Gear Live, set for release on July 7, includes customized clock faces by Samsung, including the one here.Josh Miller/CNET

SAN FRANCISCO -- Android Wear, Google's new software for wearables, is designed to provide a "pure" Google experience, but it doesn't quite spell the death of preloaded apps and services from device makers.

Samsung executives said the Korean company won't overlay its own software -- such as its TouchWiz interface or Magazine UX -- on its Android Wear smartwatch called Gear Live. (Doing so is banned by Google, at least right now, they said.) But the company will take advantage of Google's open software development kit to create its own unique services and features for its upcoming smartwatch and other potential Android Wear wearable devices, they said.

"Android Wear is 100 percent built around Google services today on Day 1," Christopher Belter, a director of marketing for Samsung's US mobile business, told CNET in an interview late Wednesday. "I don't know what the time frame is, but I guess it would be our goal to build, like we do on our phones, some of our own services for the Wear environment."

Samsung's participation in the Android Wear program is the latest example of the strengthening relationship between the consumer electronics conglomerate and Google. It marks a reversal from just two years ago, when the tech titans privately tussled over their parts of the Android experience.

The Gear Live smartwatch, which offers a purer Google experience than Samsung's previous smartwatches, is proof that Samsung is willing to play nice. Samsung, like all other equipment manufacturers, must walk the line between offering a pure Google experience and creating differentiated services and features to stand out.

Samsung, LG, and Motorola will provide the first three Android Wear smartwatches: the $199 Gear Live, the $229 G Watch, and the yet-to-be-priced Moto 360, respectively. The Samsung and LG smartwatches are available for preorder and will be released July 7. Motorola's will launch later in the summer.Android Wear is still in its infancy. On Wednesday, Google and its partners unveiled the first devices with this modified version of the Android mobile operating system that's designed specifically for smartwatches and other Internet-connected wearables. Android Wear promises a simple user interface, instant notifications, and the ability to perform tasks, like texting friends, using voice commands.

Of the three companies, Samsung has the most experience in wearables. The company introduced its first smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, in September. The device ran Google's Android mobile OS, but Samsung switched to its own open-source software, called Tizen, for the second generation of Gearand the Gear 2 Neo smartwatches. Samsung even pushed out a software update earlier this month thatconverted the first Gear's operating system to Tizen. Its Gear Fit fitness band, meanwhile, runs a real-time operating system designed to improve battery life.

In each case, Samsung designed the user interfaces powering the devices. It also created many of the apps and worked with developers to spur interest in its devices.

With Android Wear, Samsung takes a step back from that process, but the company still plans to find ways to make its devices different from all the other upcoming Android Wear gadgets. Creating its own apps and services -- and preloading them on the Gear Live smartwatch -- is one way to do that. So is including unique hardware design and features, such as the heart-rate monitor.

SAMSUNG'S GEAR LIVE SMARTWATCH (PICTURES)SEE FULL GALLERY













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Samsung's early software efforts have been mixed, however. Its TouchWiz user interface, which is the software layered on top of Android, has been reviled by many Android purists who want a less cluttered design. When the Galaxy S4 smartphone launched in early 2013, some critics slammed the amount of "bloatware," or pre-installed and unremovable programs such as S Translate and S Voice. And CNET's Jessica Dolcourt called TouchWiz "tired and outdated" ahead of the Galaxy S5 launch in February.

Samsung has taken some steps to improve its software capabilities by creating new businesses such as the Media Solutions Center and by hiring experienced user interface designers. It redesigned TouchWiz in favor of its new Magazine UX, starting with the Galaxy Tab Pro tablets that it unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. And with the Galaxy S5, announced in February, Samsung pulled back on preloading features and services, instead giving users the option to install Samsung-built apps. Reports said Samsung's focus on software had angered Google, and the Mountain View, Calif., Internet giant convinced Samsung to change course.

For Google, Android Wear marks an effort to exert even more control over its operating system. Android is open source, but it's vital for Google to have its services front and center. Since it's not charging companies for using Android, it has to generate money through serving advertisements on popular apps such as Google Maps. However, most Android vendors -- including Samsung with TouchWiz and Magazine UX -- have tended to push their own software features over those from Google.

"The core objective of Android has always been to provide the widest possible audience for Google's services, but over the last several years Google has seen a variety of device vendors customize, tweak and fork Android in ways that either submerge Google's services beneath their own or strip them out entirely," said JackDaw research analyst Jan Dawson.

Android Wear should help force Google's services to the forefront, but that doesn't mean Samsung and other vendors will fade into the background entirely.

Even out of the box, Samsung's Gear Live includes some tweaks unique to the company. For instance, the Gear Live software comes with 12 different watch faces -- seven from Google and five from Samsung, executives from the company told CNET. It also has two stopwatches, one from Google and one from Samsung.

Then there's the heart rate monitor. So far, the app is standalone and just gives users a live reading, but soon, Samsung will integrate the feature with the S Health app on its phones and tablets, said Ikseon Kang, the Samsung senior manager in charge of product planning for the Gear Live. Samsung also may preload the S Health app on the Gear Live in the future, he said. And it plans to integrate its other services -- like its ChatOn messaging app -- with Gear Live, as well.

"We have a plan to integrate those kinds of services," Kang said. "But today we are focusing on Google-based services."

Google surely hopes that focus won't change too quickly.

Android 5.0 L Features List: What's new?

Android

What is new in Android?

Android 5.0 L is here. Google showed the new software off at Google I/O 2014, letting us Android fans know exactly what new features we have to look forward to.

Here's a spoiler: there are absolutely loads of them. This is the biggest Android update we've seen in a long, long time. So grab a cuppa and strap in because we're going to look at exactly what you'll get in Android 5.0 L.

New look, dubbed Material

The first thing you'll notice about Android 5.0 L is that it looks quite different to the current Android 4.4 Android, and it's not – as we once thought – like the experimental Experience UI used in the Nexus 5.

Google has come up with a new interface look, called Material. It's a lot more vibrant that current Android, and it makes much more use of interface layers. This is quite the opposite of recent trends in UI design, which have all been about making interfaces as flat and simple as possible. Material may be simple, but it's not flat.

Real-time Shadows

The depth is not just about the way the interface is laid out, either. Android 5.0 L introduces real-time generated shadows for interface elements.

This should really help to spruce-up the look of Android, giving it some of the visual tactility of iOS 7. We have seen attempts at this kind of more substantive look in some third-party custom interfaces before, but they generally don't get it right.

Others end up looking busy, and there are often performance hits to any visual flashiness. But we don't expect any of that with Android 5.0 L.

Redesigned nav soft keys

The look of the nav buttons that are a key part of Android have been changed as well. Their functions seem to be the same as ever – back, home and recent apps – but the look seems to have been pilfered from a PlayStation controller.

A triangle, circle and square do manage, strangely enough, to encompass what each of the soft keys are for well enough, though. And the extra simplicity of this is no doubt all a part of the Material look.

More coherence across tablets, phones and PCs

Google is keen to big-up that the Material look is going to be fairly consistent between phones, tablets, desktops and laptops. It wants to offer that smooth cross-platform feel that you get when you really buy into the Apple universe, with an iPhone, iPad and MacBook.

Of course, on the PC front Google is only really going to have access to the Chrome interface – it can't reskin Microsoft's Windows. But the look on a laptop isn't a million miles removed from the tiles of Windows 8.

Redesigned Gmail

It's not just the Android interface that has been given a refresh. The Google apps have too. Much more colour has been injected into Gmail, and the look of the app is both a lot cleaner and more modern.

The square avatar pics of current Gmail have also been traded-in for circular ones.

Dynamic 'heads up' notifications

Another element of Android 5.0 L that we've seen in some third-party Android interfaces is head-up notifications. These pop-up on top of whatever you're doing, meaning you don't have to go to an app or drag down the notifications bar to find out what's going on when your phone beeps.

It seems highly likely that you'll have control over what apps can send you these pop-up notifications. As otherwise they'll become very, very annoying.

New lock screen notifications

Notifications also have a real spot on the lock screen. And, again, this is something that has been common for some time in many custom Android interfaces.

Each notification shows up as a little bar across the screen in high-contrast fashion, making them super-clear. It looks as though four different notifications has be displayed on the lock screen at once on a normal-size phone.

3D multitasking

A minor visual tweak of Android 5.0 L is the new multitasking menu. It still shows your 'recent' apps, but rather than being displayed as a 2D scroll of apps, it's now a 3D cascade of app tiles.

It looks quite similar to the tabs screen of the Chrome browser for Android – no surprise there. The look of the Android take is better, though – sharper, simpler and with good use of those new realtime shadows.

Direct links to apps from Google searches

Developers will now be able to have links to their apps take the place of websites in web searches. What this means is that you'll be able to head directly to a specific part of an app right from the Chrome browser on your phone.

This feature has been accessible to a handful of apps to date, but now it'll be available to all developers. If you're worried about being launched from Chrome into some dodgy app, don't be. Just as lesser sites don't tend to feature too highly in your search results, ropey apps won't either.

64-bit CPU support

One new feature we knew was coming – support for 64-bit CPUs. As 64-bit CPUs clearly designed to work with Android devices have already been officially announced, this one was obvious.

As well as letting many more instructions take place simultaneously, having a 64-bit CPU really lifts the lid on how much RAM Android phones/tablets can actually make use of. With a 32-bit processor the limited address space means that only so much RAM memory can be accessed at once.

Improved GPU support

Google has improved the coding of Android's execution of graphics, allowing for much more advanced visuals. It has been dubbed an 'extension pack', and will finally make top-end processors start to make a bit more sense.

The extension pack enables tesselation, geometry shaders, computer shaders and ASTC texture compression. The latter is an advanced image compression algorithm that will allow for highly effective reduction in the size of art assets.

ART runtime is in

Android 5.0 L switches over to the ART runtime. If you've read our Android 4.4 tips and tricks article you'll know that this is something people with recent Android phones have been able to try out for themselves for a while.

At present Androids use the Dalvik runtime as standard. ART is significantly quicker, but uses a bit more storage space for apps. It's a fair trade off in our opinion.

Smartwatch as authentication

One of the funkiest little additions in Android 5.0 L is a new way to bring your phone out of standby securely. Android Wear watches will work as an authentication tool, meaning you won't need a password to unlock your phone if you're wearing your watch. We're not quite sure yet exact what tech is used to do this. But it is neat.

BUT, of course, if you get mugged your attacker is probably going to nick your Android smartwatch as well as your shiny new Galaxy S6 mobile phone. But it should at least stop your friends from being able to tweet on your behalf should you nip of to the lav for a minute.

Support for USB audio

One of the new APIs of Android 5.0 L is USB audio. This means you'll be able to transmit digital audio right from a phone's microUSB port, bypassing the DAC stage used when you listen through a headphone jack.

What will this mean? It opens up an Android phone to being a genuine audiophile source when paired with a decent outboard USB DAC, and could mean we start to see USB headphones – something Apple is rumoured to be working on through Beats. The Nexus 5 supported USB audio output, but it is not native to all Android 4.4 devices.

Battery efficiency optmisation

Android 5.0 L gets some new battery features, including a reworked Battery Saver mode. Android 4.4 falls well behind the competition in this respect – where phones like the Galaxy S5 have extreme power-saving modes on tap, the basic Android 4.4 battery saver is rather rudimentary.

The lock screen will also tell you how long your phone will take to charge when plugged in – a clever little tweak that seems so obvious now it's in place.

Bluetooth 4.1 support

Android 5.0 L offers native support for Bluetooth 4.1. Top-end phones have Bluetooth 4.0 these days, but what's the difference?

Bluetooth 4.1 doesn't clash with 4G signal like Bluetooth 4.0, and it gives manufacturers much more control over the timeout times of the connection. This gives much more scope for controlling power consumption. Bluetooth 4.1 also improves connectivity, letting Bluetooth peripherals talk to each other more easily.

Android Auto

A major new bit of Android 5.0 L is Android Auto. This is a bit like Apple's CarPlay – it's an in-car system that runs off your Android phone.

You jump into your car and your Android 5.0 L mobile will start transmitting Android Auto to the screen on your car's dashboard. Its interface looks quite a lot like Google Now and Android Wear, and will of course let you GPS navigate to wherever you want to go. We imagine it'll be a lot more open than CarPlay too.

Android TV

While not a core part of the Android system, Android TV is a huge development in the Android universe. It's a version of the platform designed for your TV, and it'll eventually be built into set top boxes and TVs.

You'll control the thing with your Android phone, and will be able to play Android games, watch video and do pretty much anything you can with your Android phone.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/android-5-0-l-features-list-what-s-new#McldAQI0dfXcupOH.99

Android 5.0 coming soon.....

While Android 4.4 (KitKat) was a decent update it was fairly light on new features and we've been waiting quite a while for a significant new version of Google's mobile OS.

Given the name it looks like Android 5.0 may well be that, but then again we’re not totally certain that it will be Android 5, it’s possible that we’ll get Android 4.5 instead, in which case it might not be such a big update.

Either way it’s likely to have a dessert themed name. Android 4.4 got KitKat so we’re on to ‘L’ with the next version and while no-one knows what the name will be the front runner at the moment seems to be Lollipop, along with a few suggestions that it could go by Lemon Meringue Pie.

There’s more to the new Android than just a new name though and we’ve collected all the news and rumours in one place. So read on for what to expect and when.

Release date

We might be getting Android 5.0, or whatever it ends up being called, very soon indeed, as Google I/O 2014 takes place on the 25th and 26th of June and we’re expecting the new version of Android to be shown off there.

There’s a good chance we’ll see some new hardware then too, such as the Nexus 8 perhaps, and it’s likely that Android 5 will initially launch on that as well as rolling out to other recent Nexus devices.

Anyone not rocking a Nexus may have to wait a little longer to get their hands on it, as it’s down to your phones manufacturer to bring you the update, but at least you should know what to expect very soon.

Features

It’s looking like Google might start to focus on health and fitness, like so many other smartphone players. A report from Forbes details a rumoured app known as Google Fit, which is expected to debut in the next version of Android.

The app sounds a lot like Apple’s new Health app, in that it acts as a hub which can combine the data from various fitness trackers and apps. So don’t expect it to do much on its own, but if you rely on more than one health or fitness tool then Google Fit will store the data from all of them in one place, rather than you having to check each individually.

It’s also expected that Android 5 will add compatibility for Android Wear, which is likely to launch at the same time. This would allow Android 5 to seamlessly communicate with Android Wear powered wearables, which are expected to start arriving very soon.

We may also see support for 64-bit processors added with Android 5, as Qualcomm is launching 64-bit chips later this year and it’s rumoured that the Nexus 8 might be 64-bit. That won’t benefit existing devices but it will open Android up to more powerful devices and increased RAM in future.

As usual it’s also all but guaranteed that various performance improvements will be made with the new version of Android and that’s something which will benefit existing devices.

Look

It’s likely that the new version of Android will have a slightly new look. Android Police got hold of a screenshot purportedly showing the new version of Android. Eagle eyed observers will notice that while it’s similar, the icons have been changed slightly to look flatter and more minimalist.

The dialler could be in for a change too, as the Google Nexus team tweeted an image of it that shows it in a blue colour, rather than the grey that it currently is.

That’s all we know so far, but with the release likely to be just around the corner we should have all the details soon.

Yo gets hacked

BY SETH FIEGERMAN1 HOUR AGO

From Mashable

Not good, Yo.

Yo, a messaging app for iPhone and Android that simply lets users send the word "yo," has been hacked just days after it first gained mainstream attention.

A user complained on Twitter that overnight that the app had been hacked, and in response, Yo's account tweeted that it was "working on resolving all these issues." Or Arbel, the app's creator, later confirmed to TechCrunch that the app was "having security issues."

TechCrunch reports that it received an email from a college student who claimed to have worked with two of his roommates to hack the app, gaining access to users' phone numbers as well as the ability to "spoof Yo's from any users."

The Yo app launched quietly in April, but gained a tremendous amount of attention this week afterThe Financial Times reported that it had raised $1 million in funding simply to let users send "Yo" to one another.

Arbel previously told Mashable that he initially thought the idea — suggested to him by the CEO of Mobli — was "silly," but he eventually came around to it and built the initial version of the app in eight hours. Based on today's security issue, the app likely needs a little more work, to say the least.

Arbel did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

Amazon's Fire Phone could fuel $2 billion in sales

by Donna Tam

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos holds up the Amazon Fire Phone.James Martin/CNET

Amber Corbin of Broken Bow, Neb., is a loyal Amazon Prime customer who has been a fan of the company's devices since the very first Kindle e-reader in 2007. She's bought hundreds of e-books, raves about Prime's two-day shipping, and owns several versions of the Kindle Fire tablet.

And now she's got her eye on the Fire Phone. One of 300 people selected by Amazon to attend the Fire Phone launch event in Seattle on Wednesday, Corbin gushed, "It is amazing. I got to play with it today and it is just unbelievable."

Many of the tech gadget-obsessed may be scratching their heads over why Amazon is even entering the smartphone business, which Samsung and Apple dominate. They're likely puzzled as to why Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos chose to release a feature-packed phone -- it's got six cameras and supports 3-D images and maps -- at a starting price ($199) that's comparable to that of Apple's popular iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy smartphones. After all, Amazon's standard approach has been to unveil budget-friendly gadgets, as it did when it began selling Kindle e-readers and tablets.

And there's the question of why Amazon is selling the phone exclusively through AT&T, a move that limits the number of people to whom Bezos can even sell the Fire Phone.

But Corbin doesn't have any questions -- or reservations. Her contract with US Cellular is up at the end of the month and she said she's ready to make the switch from her Galaxy S4 if AT&T can provide service in Broken Bow, a city of about 4,000 people. Her reason: She loves Amazon's products and the convenience they offer when it comes to buying things through the e-commerce site.

"I just kept upgrading, and I absolutely love each and every one that came out," she said in an interview Wednesday, after having her photo snapped with Bezos at the smartphone's launch. "I am already in love."

Bezos is banking that many of the over 20 million customers who pay $99 a year for Prime today will think just like Corbin does. Some of those Amazon shoppers already buy at the site through one of the company's devices, which are all designed to make it easier for people to shop and consume content.

The Fire Phone could help Amazon could generate about $2 billion from e-commerce products alone -- that's not including what it will make from content like streaming videos, music or e-books -- predicts Neal Doshi, an analyst with CRT Capital Group. That could grow to $5 billion or $7 billion in the next couple of years, he said.

It's a small chunk of change for Amazon, which had sales of $19.74 billion just last quarter. But it could boost mobile revenue, which accounted for about half of sales during the 2013 holiday season.

GOING HANDS-ON WITH THE AMAZON FIRE PHONE (PICTURES)SEE FULL GALLERY

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The key to Amazon's smartphone sales may be Firefly, the Fire Phone's built-in object recognition technology. It allows the phone to automatically identify items and then shows the product for sale on Amazon. The phone's audio recognition technology does the same for music and video content. Those products and content are then just a click away from purchase.

Firefly checks the price of more than 70 million products, according to Amazon's site.

"People who use this phone are going to be Prime users, and they are going to use this Firefly feature like crazy," Doshi said.

Firefly stole the show at the launch, with Bezos using the phone to correctly identify items. "It's the most sophisticated implementation I've ever seen on any device," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.

Convincing users that it's worth the price will be a major challenge for the Fire Phone, which goes head to head with popular phones from Apple and Samsung. The Fire Phone will be available in two versions from AT&T starting July 25, and it will include a free year of Prime service. Current Prime customers who buy the phone will get a year added to their Prime service, Amazon said.He suspects that Amazon delivered a higher-quality and therefore higher-priced device to improve its hardware brand. "I think that Amazon recognizes that their brand is looking more like a Walmart than a higher brand like Macy's," Moorhead said.

That's where Prime customers like Corbin come in. She was selected from 60,000 people -- including journalists and developers -- who applied for the chance to attend the product unveiling. In her application, she told Amazon about how many Kindle devices she owns and how Prime gives her quick access to goods she just can't buy locally in her small community, where she works for the local chamber of commerce. The bookworm already carries her Kindle Fire HDX everywhere, so why not a Fire Phone?

Said Corbin: "$199 is a very reasonable price for a phone with that kind of technology."

Fire Phone Immerses Users in Amazon's World

David Streitfeld, The New York Times, June 19, 2014

Amazon on Wednesday announced a device that tries to fulfill the retailer's dream of being integrated into consumers' lives at every possible waking moment - whether they are deciding where to eat, realizing they need more toilet paper or intrigued by a snatch of overheard music.

The device is a cellphone, but making calls on it got almost no attention at all at the event in Seattle where it was unveiled. The Fire phone, the product of four years of research and development, offersAmazon fans the chance to live in an Amazon-themed world, where just about every element can be identified, listed, ranked, shared and, of course, ordered. It offered a view of a mobile future that will be alluring to some but might repel others.

If the device works as described, and Amazon entices even a small portion of its 250 million active customers to buy one, the Fire could accelerate Amazon's already intense competition with other retailers and tech companies, not to mention intensifying some of its current battles with suppliers.

(Also see: Six Things You Need to Know About the Amazon Fire Phone)

As if to underline the no-gloves nature of the battle, a promotional video in the first few moments of the presentation took a direct slap at Apple. Both Apple and Samsung were criticized for having inferior cameras in their devices, and there seemed to be other jabs at technology like Google Glass.

The Fire's product recognition feature, Firefly, "is potentially a real threat to bricks and mortar retailers," said Rebecca Lieb, an analyst with the Altimeter Group. "Scan a product or listen to music, and you're delivered straight to the page on Amazon on which you can purchase it. Impulse shopping just went to a new level."

Amazon's phone - consumers can order it now; it ships starting July 25 - is arriving as the leading tech companies are increasingly trying to develop an array of services and products to keep consumers from wandering, the digital equivalent of Disney not wanting you to leave Disneyland for lunch. So Microsoft brought out a tablet; Facebook tried a phone; Google is experimenting with a shopping and delivery service.

Against such a frenzy of competition and innovation, an Amazon phone was inevitable. The company's leaders asked themselves only one question, Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and chief executive, told the crowd at the event: "Can we build a better phone for our most engaged customers?"

Bezos touted Firefly heavily as well as something Amazon calls Dynamic Perspective. Cameras on the phone allow the user to gain another view of a video game or see layered information on a map, like a Yelp review. Whether Dynamic Perspective is a gimmick or something more will depend on how aggressively developers invent new apps for it.

"This is the next big battleground in the ecosystem war," said Ben Schachter, an analyst with Macquarie. "Amazon is not going to turn the tide decisively in its favor with this, but just needs to establish a beachhead."

The announcement took place in a warehouselike space filled with 300 members of the news media, app developers and hand-picked Amazon fans. The presentation began with videos from people begging to attend; 60,000 people applied to do so.

Bezos began by citing laudatory reviews of the company's existing hardware, including its tablets.

"The most important thing we've done over 20 years is earn trust with customers," he said.

Amazon's leap into the smartphone business comes as sales of the devices are beginning to mature, at least in the United States and Europe. Their use for shopping, however, is just beginning to explode. In the United States, purchases made with phones will jump more than 25 percent this year to over $18 billion, according to eMarketer. At the moment, most mobile shopping is done with tablets.

Bezos, for all his zeal, was relatively circumspect about the phone's ultimate implications. Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T Mobility, Amazon's carrier partner, was more direct during a brief appearance on stage.

"I am going to buy a whole lot more things with this technology than I ever have before," De la Vega said.

One interesting question will be whether the phone will allow apps that might take customers to retailers whose prices undercut Amazon. Will residents of Planet Amazon, in other words, be permitted to visit other shopping worlds?

"Our idea is to give the lowest price to the customer," Dave Limp, an Amazon executive, said in an interview. "If we don't have it, shame on us."

As for whether customers will go into physical stores, check a price with Firefly, and order the item right then - inflaming Amazon's already bitter relations with Main Street - Limp noted that people could do the reverse: Look up something on Amazon and then buy it in a store.

"Both ways are very valuable for customers," he said.

The lengthy phone development process for Amazon was partly because of the difficulty of the task. Phones are a graveyard of tech dreams. Just ask Google, which was hailed as a genius for buying the handset maker Motorola, and then hailed again for cutting its losses and promptly selling the faded icon. Only Apple and Samsung have found it consistently profitable to make phones.

But Amazon, as always, is operating with a different playbook.

When Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire in 2011, there was a lot of chatter about its being a challenge to Apple's iPad. It was not. In the first quarter of this year, Apple had about a third of the tablet market, according to the research firm IDC. Amazon had less than 2 percent.

Still, that's a million more consumers taking up residence in the Amazon ecosystem. Just about anyone who has a Kindle Fire is a good candidate for membership in Amazon's fast shipping club, Amazon Prime, and just about any Prime member might be enticed to buy a Kindle. Amazon Prime has an estimated 20 million subscribers, who pay $99 a year.

The Fire Phone, which will be available late next month, costs $199 for a two-year contract with AT&T. But Amazon, as expected, is sweetening the deal with a year of free membership in the Prime club.

"If they are able to capture 10 percent of those Prime subscribers in the near term, then that would likely constitute a success," said Eugene Signorini, vice president of mobile insights at Mobiquity.

That would force Google and Apple, and possibly Facebook and Microsoft as well, to introduce new innovations and features in their own products. That would benefit consumers in the short term, Schachter said.

And in the long term, if Amazon or one of the other companies becomes dominant to the exclusion of all others?

"That might be more problematic," Schachter said.

How to Enable Emoji on Android

By Kyli Singh

Without an emoji keyboard, your Android device isn't complete.

The craze for these tiny pictographic icons have changed the way we express ourselves, and have become a must-have feature on our smartphone and tablet keyboards.

Whether it's through pre-installed add-ons or third-party apps, Android users have a number of ways to access these colorful characters on their gadgets.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to activate emoji on your Android devices.

A step-by-step guide on how to activate emoji on your Android devices.

IMAGE: MASHABLE TARN SUSUMPOW

1. Does your device have the ability to read emoji?

A screenshot of the Wikipedia page for emoji from an Android phone. 

IMAGE: SCREENSHOT FROM MOTOROLA X SRAVANKUMAR REDDY POLU

First, determine if your phone can read and write emoji. The simplest way to figure this out is to open the Internet browser on your device and visit a webpage with emoji on it.

• Go to the Wikipedia page for emoji.
• Scroll down to the "In the Unicode standard" section.
• If you see a majority of animated characters, you're in the clear. If you only see blank symbols, then your device can't understand emoji.

If your device cannot display emoji characters, don't worry. You have the option to download apps that support emoji, such as WhatsApp.

2. Does your device have iWnn IME?

iWnn IME is a built-in graphic keyboard that comes with some Android devices.

IMAGE: SCREENSHOT FROM NEXUS 5 VISHAL EGBERT

On most devices running Android 4.2 and higher, like Google's Nexus line, you can unlock a built-in graphic keyboard called iWnn IME.

• Open your Settings menu.
• Tap on "Language and Input."
• If you see "iWNN IME Emoji Input," make sure it's checked.

Now, when you use the Android keyboard, you can press the spacebar and select "Emoji input method."

3. Does your device come with an emoji add-on waiting to be installed?

On Android 4.1 and higher, an emoji add-on may already come with your device. With this add-on, you can use emoji in all text fields of your phone — even those in social media apps.

Keep in mind that emoji will only appear when you type in keywords in a default Android keyboard, or by installing Google Keyboard.

• Open your Settings menu.
• Tap on "Language and Input."
• Go to "Android Keyboard" (or "Google Keyboard").
• Click on "Settings."
• Scroll down to "Add-on Dictionaries."
• Tap on "Emoji for English Words" to install it.

When you type with the Android or Google keyboard in any app, you can use keywords that will transform into emoji. For example, when you type words like "smile," an emoji of a smiley face will appear.

Another option is to add your own emoji keywords, since the default Android and Google keyboards have a personal dictionary option with shortcuts.

A screenshot of the Personal Dictionary feature on a HTC.

IMAGE: SCREENSHOT KYLI SINGH

Here's how to create a shortcut for an emoji in your personal dictionary:

• Open your Settings menu.
• Tap on "Language and Input."
• Go to "Android Keyboard" or "Google Keyboard."
• Click on "Settings."
• Scroll to "Personal Dictionary."
• Tap the + (plus) sign to add a new shortcut.
• Under "Phrase," insert the emoji you want, and under "Shortcut," type the keyword that triggers the emoji you want.

4. Don't have an add-on or iWnn IME? Download a third-party emoji keyboard.

If you don't have an emoji add-on or iWnn IME, you have the option to download a text messaging app that supports emoji.

To find a third-party app that has an emoji keyboard, visit Google Play and search for it. There are plenty of keyboard apps out there, such as SwiftKey, Swype, Fleksy and Minuum.