From $199

The news that Amazon was launching a smartphone shouldn't have come as any surprise to those who have even half an eye on the tech press. Before Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos had even hit the stage with the new phone, some of the specs were being discussed online. The Fire phone has lived up to many of them. A 13-megapixel camera, high definition video and a 4.7 inch LCD HD display have all been included, along with a quad core 2.2 Ghz processor and 2GB of RAM. So that takes care of the essentials. Plus it uses something known as "dynamic perspective" to make flat images appear 3D, creating the effect by using four front- facing cameras to track your head. Audio, meanwhile, is virtual surround sound by Dolby. And the headphones supplied promise to be tangle-free, with flat cables. The bad news? There's no indication when it will be coming to Europe.

amazon.com