亞馬遜在上周發(fā)布了大家期待已久的智能手機(jī)。這款稱為 Fire Phone 的手機(jī)的確整合了幾種與眾不同的技術(shù)，例如 Firefly 以及動態(tài)視角等新功能著實令人印象深刻。然而，一般的評價如何呢？ 許 多人應(yīng)該跟我一樣對于亞馬遜的策略感到費解，甚至有些反感——透過推出自家的硬件(而非以App)的方式，使用戶更密切地受制于亞馬遜的商店 和與服務(wù)。目前市場上存在這么多的智能手機(jī)可以選擇，消費者為什么會愿意選擇一支明顯只為亞馬遜服務(wù)而無法利用 Google Play 等其他商店的 Fire Phone ？

tFDesmc

編碼對象數(shù)據(jù)庫 首先來談?wù)劶夹g(shù)。根據(jù)亞馬遜表示，整合在這支手機(jī)中的 Firefly ，是一種專為以 Fire Phone 相機(jī)與麥克風(fēng)所擷取的數(shù)據(jù)中“超過1億種”對象進(jìn)行辨識而設(shè)計的功能。 消 費者必須先為 Fire Phone 指明一種對象。Fire Phone 就會利用在 亞馬遜 Web Services cloud 上的數(shù)據(jù)庫掃描該對象、記錄其信息以及進(jìn)行辨識。經(jīng)過辨識后，該對象將會出現(xiàn)在屏幕上，并出現(xiàn)更多有關(guān)的信息——主要是讓用戶可從亞馬遜進(jìn)行購買的 信息。即使完全未接觸到鍵盤，它也會自動添加到用戶的購物車中。 那么，什么是Firefly的基本構(gòu)建模塊？ Envisioneering Group公司研究總監(jiān)Richard Doherty表示：“高分辨率相機(jī)和永不間斷的3G與4G服務(wù)；或許并不需要四核心的CPU。低光與IR夜視相機(jī)。它還需要音頻擷取環(huán)境聲音、音樂、電視 配樂與電影配樂。在后端，你需要一個快速、看似無止盡的亞馬遜網(wǎng)絡(luò)服務(wù)(AWS)云端——如亞馬遜打造 Firefly 實現(xiàn)快速信息辨識比對的魔力?！? Doherty解釋，F(xiàn)irefly透過亞馬遜巨大且持續(xù)增加中的數(shù)據(jù)庫進(jìn)行影像、條形碼、QR Codes、文字(OCR)與聲音的比對。 IHS Technology資深總分析師Ian Fogg表示，“Firefly采用可建立影像‘指紋’的軟件組合，上傳至亞馬遜云端數(shù)據(jù)庫進(jìn)行分析以及回報配對的結(jié)果。”不過，這個功能是否只適 用于Fire Phone呢？Ian Fogg表示Firefly是否只適用于Fire智能手機(jī)的硬件，目前還不明朗。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第2頁：動態(tài)視角——在2D屏幕上實現(xiàn)3D效果 第3頁：手機(jī)降級成網(wǎng)購掃描儀？

相關(guān)閱讀：
• 亞馬遜首款智能手機(jī)Fire Phone精美圖賞
• 亞馬遜發(fā)布Fire Phone智能手機(jī)，不拼硬件拼服務(wù)
• 亞馬遜將推3D智能手機(jī)，主打擴(kuò)增實境電商服務(wù)tFDesmc

{pagination} 動態(tài)視角 Fire Phone的 3D 接口稱為“動態(tài)視角”，是另一項值得一提的技術(shù)。這種創(chuàng)新的接口利用多臺相機(jī)在 2D 的4.7吋HD屏幕上實現(xiàn) 3D 效果。 根據(jù)Fogg表示，動態(tài)視角基本上利用多臺相機(jī)加上紅外線光源進(jìn)行實時追蹤與調(diào)整顯示器，從而提供生動的效果。然而，他推測，“在同一時間使用至少兩臺相機(jī)，以及需要紅外線光源來加強(qiáng)低光強(qiáng)度，可能會影響到 Fire Phone 的電池壽命。” 另 一項挑戰(zhàn)是第三方應(yīng)用程序開發(fā)人員。為了開發(fā)專為動態(tài)視角等新特點量身打造的App，亞馬遜需要大量的開發(fā)人員。如果少了開發(fā)人員的支持， “亞馬遜將會面對更少的App支持從而減少Fire的差異化，或者必須負(fù)擔(dān)開發(fā)人員為Fire開發(fā)原始碼的費用，導(dǎo)致亞馬遜的成本提高，從而 更難以推展其智能手機(jī)策略，”他說。 盡管目前還沒有正式的SDK (以動態(tài)視角功能而言)，Envisioneering公司的Doherty表示，他預(yù)計在本周即將舉行的Google IO上可取得更多的細(xì)節(jié)。

tFDesmc

本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 第3頁：手機(jī)降級成網(wǎng)購掃描儀？

相關(guān)閱讀：
• 亞馬遜首款智能手機(jī)Fire Phone精美圖賞
• 亞馬遜發(fā)布Fire Phone智能手機(jī)，不拼硬件拼服務(wù)
• 亞馬遜將推3D智能手機(jī)，主打擴(kuò)增實境電商服務(wù)tFDesmc

{pagination} 手機(jī)降級成網(wǎng)購掃描儀？ 現(xiàn)在來談?wù)劄槭裁次也荒敲凑J(rèn)同亞馬遜的經(jīng)營策略。不要誤會我的意思。我知道如果手機(jī)能告訴你所關(guān)注事物的更多信息以及幫你決定買或不買是多么的方便。但我知道，亞馬遜基本上是將Fire Phone定位為一支可實現(xiàn)24小時購物體驗的便攜式掃描儀。 沒錯，這是消費主義的魔法棒，但也存在一些阻力。一支功能已被眨低為一款購物掃描儀的手機(jī)算是一種進(jìn)步嗎？這讓我難以接受。Fire Phone迫使用戶持續(xù)以交易的觀點來看周遭事物。我喜歡逛街，但并不想住在店內(nèi)，更不希望自已的手機(jī)是專門用來購物的。 Fire Phone 并沒有 Google Play 商店也是一大敗筆。正如IHS的Fogg指出，這意味著“它缺少消費者希望在智能手機(jī)上看到的重要 Google App?！彼⒀a(bǔ)充說，“Android智能手機(jī)用戶改用 Fire 手機(jī)后意味著必須放棄目前所使用的 App ?！? 另一個問題是：世界上可用于比對的對象應(yīng)該超過1億種吧？的確，他說這只是世界上所有對象數(shù)目的一小部分?！暗愃频墓δ芤部山?jīng)由其他智能手機(jī)上的Google Goggles App來實現(xiàn)。但這并未被證實是一種吸引人的應(yīng)用程序?！? 總之，我相信“終極”的購物體驗應(yīng)該透過App來實現(xiàn)，而非硬件。網(wǎng)絡(luò)購物只是智能手機(jī)的一種App，但并不是最重要的。 IHS 的Fogg指出：“由于亞馬遜的大多數(shù)行動客戶在近期內(nèi)仍將繼續(xù)使用 iPhone 以及其他手機(jī)制造商的智能手機(jī)產(chǎn)品，因此，如果亞馬遜打算擴(kuò)展銷售業(yè)務(wù)的話，我們建議亞馬遜應(yīng)該盡快讓 Firefly 成為一種在其他手機(jī)上也能使用的App?！? 當(dāng)然，就像Envisioneering公司的Doherty所說的，亞馬遜是“首家最值得信賴的銷售和服務(wù)公司?！币苍S是這樣沒錯。但你愿意掏出199美元(Fire Phone 32GB版本的價格)只為了完全受限于單一商店(亞馬遜)以及一家電信業(yè)者？ 對于亞馬遜公司首席執(zhí)行官Jeff Bezos來說，一支專為網(wǎng)購打造的手機(jī)可能意味著重大的進(jìn)展，但對于我們其他人來說，卻可能沒那么了不起，甚至還可能害你荷包快速縮水。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Susan Hong 參考英文原文：Amazon’s Fire Phone: It's Good for Bezos, Not So Much for Us，by Junko Yoshida

相關(guān)閱讀：
• 亞馬遜首款智能手機(jī)Fire Phone精美圖賞
• 亞馬遜發(fā)布Fire Phone智能手機(jī)，不拼硬件拼服務(wù)
• 亞馬遜將推3D智能手機(jī)，主打擴(kuò)增實境電商服務(wù)tFDesmc

{pagination} Amazon’s Fire Phone: It's Good for Bezos, Not So Much for Us Junko Yoshida, Chief International Correspondent 亞馬遜 finally unveiled Wednesday (June 18) its long-anticipated smartphone. So, what’s the verdict? Dubbed Fire Phone, it incorporates a couple of differentiated technologies such as Firefly and dynamic perspective. I find them impressive. Yet I don’t think I’m alone regarding 亞馬遜’s strategy -- pushing its own hardware, not the app, so closely tied to its own store and services -- somewhat puzzling and even a little offensive. With so many smartphones to choose from, why would any consumers opt for a Fire Phone that’s blatantly self-serving for 亞馬遜 and doesn’t even include the Google Play store? Database of coded objects First, let’s talk technology. Integrated in the phone is "Firefly," a feature designed to recognize "over 100 million" items, according to 亞馬遜, from the information Fire Phone captures through its cameras and microphone. The consumer is instructed to point the Fire phone at an object. Fire Phone will scan the object, record its information, and identify it, using the database in the 亞馬遜 Web Services cloud. Once identified, the item appears on-screen, where more information appears -- mainly that you can buy it from 亞馬遜. Just add it to your cart automatically -- without even touching a keyboard. So what are the basic building blocks for Firefly? Richard Doherty, research director at the Envisioneering Group, breaks it down: High-resolution cameras and always-on 3G and 4G services; probably does not need a quad core CPU. Low light level and IR night vision cameras. It needs audio for picking up ambient sound, music, TV soundtrack, movie soundtracks. On the back end, you need a fast, seemingly endless AWS (亞馬遜 Web Services) cloud -- as 亞馬遜 has architected, for Firefly to work its recognition magic quickly. Firefly works by comparing imagery, bar codes, QR Codes, words (OCR), and sounds within 亞馬遜’s massive -- and always growing -- database of coded objects in the AWS cloud, Doherty explains. As Ian Fogg, senior principal analyst at IHS Technology, says, “Firefly is using a combination of on-device software which creates a ‘fingerprint’ of the image, which is small enough to upload and for 亞馬遜's cloud database to analyze and report back a match.” However, to my question about whether this feature only works on Fire Phone, Fogg adds that it's unclear if Firefly depends on the Fire smartphone's hardware. Dynamic perspective Fire Phone’s 3D-style interface, called “dynamic perspective,” is another technology worth mentioning. The innovative interface uses multiple cameras to create a 3D effect on a 2D 4.7" HD panel. In essence, the dynamic perspective uses multiple cameras combined with infrared lights to track the owners head in real time and adjust the display to provide a compelling effect, according to Fogg. As interesting as it sounds, this thrill carries a penalty. He speculates, “The use of at least two cameras at a time, and the need for infrared lights to assist in lower light levels may affect the battery life of the Fire smartphone.” Another challenge is third-party app developers. In order to develop apps tailored to such new features as dynamic perspective, 亞馬遜 needs a lot of developers. Without a groundswell of developer support, “亞馬遜 will either need to accept fewer apps supporting the features and so reduced differentiation for the Fire, or it will have to pay for developers to code for its smartphone, raising 亞馬遜's costs and making it even harder to push its smartphone strategy into the black,” he notes. While there is no formal SDK (for dynamic perspective) yet, Envisioneering’s Doherty said that he expects to hear more details at Google IO next week. Reducing a phone to a shopping scanner Now, let’s talk about why I’m not quite thrilled about 亞馬遜’s business strategy. Don’t get me wrong. I see the convenience of having your phone tell you what you’re looking at, giving you more information, and helping you decide -- to buy or not buy -- all on your phone. In my mind, 亞馬遜 is essentially pitching Fire Phone as a portable scanner for the 24-hour shopping experience. Yes, it’s consumerism’s magic wand. But there’s the rub. A phone whose function has been reduced to a shopping scanner is a kind of progress difficult for me embrace. Fire Phone compels you to view things around you constantly in transactional terms. I love shopping, but I don’t live to shop. I don’t want my phone to be ALL about shopping. Fire Phone not having the Google Play store is also a big negative. As IHS’s Fogg pointed out, that means “it lacks the important Google apps which consumers expect on smartphones.” The analyst adds, “Android smartphone owners [who] switch to Fire will have to leave their existing apps behind.” Not good. Further, this question: Aren’t there more than 100 million objects in the world to look at? Indeed. He says this is just a fraction of the number of objects in the world. “Similar functionality is available on other smartphones through apps such as Google Goggles. It has not proved to be a compelling application. Above all, I believe the “ultimate” shopping experience should be made available as an app, not as hardware. Shopping is a smartphone app, but not the most important app. I think IHS’ Fogg nailed it when he wrote back to me yesterday in an email: Given most of 亞馬遜's mobile customers will continue to use iPhones and other smartphone makers' smartphone models for the foreseeable future, we recommend 亞馬遜 should make Firefly an app available on other handsets as soon as possible if 亞馬遜 is to maximize its retail sales. Sure, as Envisioneering’s Doherty tells me, 亞馬遜 is “first and foremost a trusted sales and services company.” Maybe so. But are you going to shell out $199 (the price of the 32GB version of Fire Phone) tied to a single store (亞馬遜) and to a single carrier (AT&T)? A phone for shopping might seem like a great leap forward for Jeff Bezos, but probably not so much for the rest of us.