Report: Amazon Working On 3-D Smartphone

Amazon has done pretty well with its Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, but it looks like the company is determined to expand beyond the market of “things to read and watch stuff on.” A new report says the e-tailer is working on a pair of devices different from any hardware it has released before.

Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that one of the devices is a smartphone with a glasses-free 3-D display that uses retina-tracking technology to give displayed images a three-dimensional, hologram-like appearance from multiple angles. The tech could also let people use the device simply by moving their eyes.

The other in-development project isn’t described in detail in the Journal story, other than saying it’s an audio-only streaming device. Amazon already allows customers to stream purchase music through apps on both Android and iOS devices, so any new device would presumably need to be incredibly affordable to appeal to people who don’t use smartphones, or offer something extra that customers aren’t yet receiving via those apps.

It’s worth noting, as with almost all in-development tech news, that the Journal’s sources caution that these projects may never see the light of day.

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