New Amazon Phone Will Reportedly Be An AT&T Exclusive
Seven years ago, AT&T scored millions of new customers by being the only U.S. wireless provider to offer the Apple iPhone. That exclusive has long since faded into memory and the iPhone is no longer the market dominator it once was. But it looks like AT&T might be hoping that lightning strikes twice, as a new report claims that the Death Star will be the sole carrier for Amazon’s rumored smartphone and/or sex toy.
According to the Wall Street Journal, when Amazon unveils the sort-of-shrouded-in-secrecy device tomorrow, the e-tail giant will also announce that users will have to have AT&T service, seeming to confirm earlier reports.
The two companies already have a relationship, with AT&T providing wireless service for Amazon’s line of Kindle devices, so it makes a bit of sense that they would just expand this partnership to cover the new phones.
A rep for AT&T told Consumerist he could not comment on the Journal story.
One major hook of the new phone is that it will have a glassless 3-D screen; one that is hopefully an improvement on the lackluster glassless 3-D tech that has thus far failed to catch on in the marketplace. According to the Journal, it uses four front-facing cameras to track the user’s retinas for a more holographic experience than what people have seen before.
But what remains to be seen is whether the rumors of some sort of “Prime Data” plan will be introduced on Wednesday. This may include cheaper data plans for Amazon Prime subscribers or perhaps subsidized data for certain apps, meaning AT&T would not count the data toward your monthly allotment. AT&T launched a sponsored data program earlier this year, but has not done much to expand the offering in the months since.
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