Amazon’s Fire to be released tomorrow amid mixed device reviews

With Apple and Samsung locked in fierce competition in the smartphone market, how Amazon's Fire would fare in the market has been the subject of debate among technology sector experts.

Even as the device is set for release tomorrow, reviews have been mixed. And while conclusions seem to be that while the Fire was a good phone, it was not much to write home about. Amazon's entry into the market though strong, could hardly be said to be a game changer, according to experts.

According to Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times, while Amazon's new entry into the already crowded field was not a game-changer, the Fire Phone was uncommonly friendly and easy to use. ''As a bare-bones smartphone, it should prove especially attractive to people who find themselves overwhelmed by today's crop of do-it-all superphones. When you forget about its whiz-bang marketing, the Fire begins to stand out as something much more interesting: a phone for the rest of us,'' Manjoo said

Amazon's entry has kept pace with many of the currently available smartphones from flagship competitors Apple or Samsung.

Amazon's new phone offers a number of welcome features, including the 4.7-inch screen with HD 1280×700 resolution and Dynamic Perspective sensors which create the sensation of 3-D imaging.

The Android-based Fire OS 3.5 gets the support of a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, an Adreno 330 GPU, and 32GB of storage. A 13MP camera, 2.1MP front-facing camera and a 2,400 mAh battery, count among the more prominent hardware features, which made it clear that Amazon had paid close attention to the details.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Skype would be available on the new Amazon Fire phone when it starts shipping later this month, ITProPortal reported.

The Skype Garage & Updates page had an announcement that the popular video phone application would be available on Amazon's new Fire phone and it would have a slightly different interface to take advantage of the Fire phone's Dynamic Perspective technology and match the look and feel of the Fire phone interface.

The post added, ''We have enhanced our Skype for Android application to bring a more intuitive user experience that is consistent with the Fire phone look and feel. Through a widget that is visible from Fire's Carousel, users can easily see their chats and notifications at a glance, without having to launch the Skype app and open chats with a one-click action. Finally, the customized Skype 3D icon and notification badge show Skype's use of Fire phone's innovative Dynamic Perspective technology.''