https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDsyhaf9XU0

The Fire Phone Comes with Two Unique Features:
1. Dynamic Perspective
2. Firefly
It Also comes with 1 year of FREE Amazon Prime

It’s been six years in the making here we are standing at the release date of the kindle fire phone (the companies first smartphone). And all the tech blogs are heckling Amazon’s flagship first phone. It’s pretty neat, they all say, but don’t buy it. It’s underwhelming. It isn't doing everything the two biggest companies in the industry (Apple & Google) are doing. Basically, what we've heard for quite sometime when a new phone comes out . . . it’s not an iPhone. And lately, since Android has overtaken iOS in market-share . . . it’s not vanilla Android. It doesn't run Google Apps. It’s just a try-hard.

So, whenever I hear about the: “Well, this phone doesn't work like an Apple phone or a Google phone,” I've gotta ask them: “Yeah, but does it work …. like an Amazon phone?” Clearly. Well then that’s good, right? I want to ask these reviewers if they actually gave the Amazon experience a chance. - OR - Did they sit there in their Google universe just check-marking all the reasons why this device was SO not a Google device. Well, obviously. Check the logo, fellas. It’s made by Amazon.

The nay-sayers will jump on you for anything you do that is different. While at the same time, they will scream at you if you copy or do the same thing as one of the big name players. Android is the new Black. While there are a number of OEMs making devices that run Android apps, we've seen them all try and distinguish themselves in some fashion; whether by carrier exclusivity, or by skinning the android launcher, or by bloatware. What Amazon has done is interesting because they took their fork and went on the other end of the park. They decided to build their own store, and to do so in a manner which put them outside of the realm of Google Services. You've kinda gotta give them credit for wanting to build their own ship.

When it comes down to it, the features come and go, they sound interesting until they don’t. I don’t know how many times I've downloaded an app, it sat in my app drawer and didn't get used again, until another app told me that it was old and i didn't use it, so it was recommended for deletion. And to be perfectly honest, I’m getting a little tired of all of my devices being used the same way. Why am I buying devices that do the same thing again? Are we blinded so much my consumerism that we are this inclined to just buy the same device with a bigger screen — so long as it syncs with our smaller, and even larger devices? I’m also tired of Google getting rid of a service I love just because they have decided they don’t want to keep it around anymore. Apple does the same thing.

What I've noticed from Amazon, is that their focus is different. Where Apple is focused on design, and Google is focused on data, Amazon is focused on Shopping. They are focused on Content. And they are looking to bring you an experience that blends together well in their Prime member world. You get to buy from them, at mass discounts many times, and with different sales, and all with two day shipping. You also get a Netlix like experience with Amazon Video, and a Google All Access experience with Amazon Prime Music; but it’s all rolled into one yearly, sub $100 price tag. It’s like their loyalty rewards program or something. But i’m really starting to like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjSQafv01-8

What’s more, is I’m starting to realize that if I am not loyal to the companies that I like, and reward THEM for doing the things that I want them to do, namely by buying products and services that keep them in business, then they too will go away. I’m worried that the Apple’s and Google’s are having waay too much influence over commerce. I’m worried that they don’t see our data as OUR data, but as THEIR data. And i’m noticing that all the while, the things that I really love, like reading books, and watching movies, and listening to music — I can do really easily as a Prime Member.

When Amazon purchased Comixology, I was a little worried at first that they were going to change it, or cheapen it in some way. When I started to think about it, I really was happy with the way that Amazon grew their business, and made their reader experience better. Now they were adding all those comic books. It only made me smile bigger. IMDB is owned by Amazon, and several other companies which I really love.

I worry about my tech. I think well, what if I want to do something on it, and I can’t. But, technology is moving so quickly, that this question is alleviated by the fact that I can just sell the device and buy a barebones android device like the Moto G or an older version like the Moto X, and I’m not giving up too much in the process. I can even get an older iPhone and go back to Apple. The trick is to find a walled garden that you like, and make your purchases from them. And that’s where i’m really eyeing Amazon on this. One of the major reasons is because Amazon is generally operating system agnostic, meaning you can get Amazon music on your iphone, you android, your kindle, your windows phone, on your desktop pc, your mac, or your linux computer. The Amazon Video is a little bit more tricky, you need to find an app, but it works off of the playstation 3 & 4, the wiiU, and the Xbox 360 & Xbone. It’s also baked into many of the new Tv’s like Samsung and Sony. And, if you can’t find it in any of these devices, there is always the FireTV.

Moving your music from Amazon to iTunes is fairly easy, and PC is even easier. The streaming services you are basically renting for as long as you keep paying for the service (in this case being a Prime Member), but like I said, you can find many places to stream to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFYs9zqYpdM

But what About all the technical stuff? Well this is what usually gets me. This is usually where i shake my head and say, oh yeah, i’ve gotta stick with . . . . big red, or Google, or Apple, or AT&T. So let’s talk about the technical stuff. What do you use your tablet or phone for? I mean that is the main question, isn’t it? I’m not going to use it as a professional voice recorder to record music or voice over, because i have an ZoomH2 that does a much better job. I’m not too worried about making it my primary camera, because I have the Sony A7. And i’m not too worried about call quality, because they all seem to have great call quality nowadays.

I’m worried about flimsy apps that may disappear or might not update properly. I’m worried about maps that aren’t intricate and able to get me where i need to go on time. And i’m worried about drive. And i’m worried about timely updates to Fire OS the way iOS and Android get updates. I’m worried about getting put on the yellow bus, while everyone elses is innovating left and right.

And here’s where I have to talk about innovation. We pick our battles. And at this point, I’m not jumping on 4k. I know, it’s exciting, and unrealistically out of this world amazingly brilliant, but . . . it’s just not something i’m working on right now. I’m happy with 1080p. Hell, i’m happy with 720p or 1080i. Anything passed 320 pixels per square inch, and i’m okay with that. I don’t need 4billion megapixels on my smartphone. And, i do want great battery life, but i don’t mind buying one of those Anker battery packs for $30 or $40 to get 10000mAh on the go. I’m happy that 1Mobile Market will allow me to “side-load” Firefox and Chrome browsers, as well as Sony Play Memories and number of other apps that simply aren’t found on the Amazon App store. I’m going to try and root the phone, although attempts to do this to my Kindle HDX were not as successful as I would have liked them to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpfwP_iDDLE

But what am I going to do about Google Play Services? I mean I’m writing this off of a Chromebook Pixel. I’ve got over a Terrabyte of Google Drive. How am I going to be able to get to that on the go? How am I going to get to anything I have online in the Google Cloud on the go? And that’s when i realized two things. I can just take my Pixel along for the ride. OR, I can use Chrome! Oh the beauty of Chrome, and Chromebooks that they have to be able to be accessed from the browser. This means virtually everything i’m worried about leaving on Google Cloud, is still there, in my chrome browser! And that’s what turned my mind a little bit.

Amazon has some of the nicest customer service I’ve ever met, and if anything goes wrong with your Kindle (and I imagine, your phone, Amazon will simply have you send it back to them to send you out a new one; for the first year).

Now what about Apple? I’ve been slowly but surely pulling myself out of the Apple ecosystem, and I’m always tempted just to go back. But that would mean dumping all my devices and working on getting all the Apple line. The Mac Air, the iPhone 6, the iPad Air, and an AppleTV (because i think at this point my brother has claimed my old AppleTV2). With this latest iOS8, I’ve decided that finally everything I really need to do on Apple can be done through an iPod touch.

Why not just do all of this on Google Play, with a Chromecast?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKG5HDyTW8o

Well, that’s the problem. I could. I mean I already have an HTC One, (although it has a cracked screen). I already have a Chromebook Pixel (LTE version). I could simply keep investing in Google. But Google sold Motorolla. They are out of the hardware business. And that makes me sad. I don’t like Lenovo. And i don’t trust Samsung. Although, I do like Sony, I like them for other things, like photography. You gotta remember I was the biggest Apple fan boy while Jobs was alive. Even a little bit of a fan boy while Scott Forstall was still there. But then I went Google. And for all the reasons listed. I loved their data. I loved their innovation. I loved that they worked with people to develop on ideas. It seems that Google is more closed than the “open-source” company I was trying to find.

My brief experience in the Linux environment came with frustrations the typical noob might run into. I’m by no means a professional programmer. I liked the possibilities. But their phone never even made it to market. And then they closed down their Ubuntu One file and music service. And that was when I decided they were on the downward spiral further than I wanted to slide.

I want to stick with someone. And the more I think about it the more I’m looking back at windows. I mean, they make computers. That’s one of the things that I’m not loving about Amazon. They don’t make computers. So i’m stuck on some OTHER operating system trying to make it work, or hoping one of them doesn’t get bought out, or change the system on me. With Apple — that’s the perk. It’s all made in house, and they make computers. Sony stopped making laptops this year, and although it loos like a good move for them, I wonder, if later on, I’ll look at them the same way — why don’t you make computers? Why don’t you have an operating system? Samsung created their very own operating system, Tizen, just incase or for the enevitable split from Google’s Android Operating System. They decided against the fork, however and quickly switched back to Android. So Tizen is still waiting for the debeutant moment. It runs on the Gear line now, but that is a smartphone accessory.

And then something interesting happened.

Babak Parviz, a Google X director who helped found and lead Google Glass and a smart contact lens project, is moving to Amazon for an unknown role.

http://mashable.com/2014/07/14/google-glass-lead-amazon/

So, I’m leaning towards the Fire Phone. Maybe because they are the underdog. Maybe, because I think I can make an app and put it on their store easier than going on the big guy’s and being lost in a sea of apps. And possibly because of loyalty to the companies that are making me happy.

UPDATE: I was completely wrong about this. Marquis Brownlee, you were right. The Fire Phone 2 may be interesting, and I’d love to just dive right into the Amazon Ecosystem. But in a real big way, geeks need not look for a refined competitor to iOS or Android from FireOS Mojito.

I purchased a One Plus One (64GB) and loved my experience. After it was stolen from a truck stop restroom (after being left for 2–3 minutes tops); I ended up going back to iPhone. I have no reason to look back to FireOS. It’s iOS or Android for me; and at this point, either one works well — I’ve become comfortable on both platforms.