Technology

In some ways, this was not the best week for Amazon. The Federal Trade Commission sued it for improperly billing customers for games used by their children. And it continues to be enmeshed in a nasty public relations battle with the publisher Hachette. But Amazon still has the drones. In a filing with the Federal Aviation Administration that got widespread attention Friday, Amazon asked for permission to test its drone delivery system outdoors, a practice that is banned for safety reasons. Never mind for the moment the fact that the F.A.A. said a few weeks ago that there would be no commercial uses of drones in a memo that did not mention Amazon but pointedly excluded even the free shipping of items by drone. That’s a lobbying battle for another day. Delivery by drone was first mentioned by Amazon last year on “60 Minutes,” and quickly became a viral sensation despite, or because of, the fact that it was unlikely to happen anytime soon. If nothing else, it was a vivid demo

The Amazon Fire phone has finally been announced after years of speculation, and it's certainly bringing some different ideas to the table. First up it sports five cameras on the front - one is the traditional front-facing snapper, and the other four are part of the Fire's Dynamic Perspective feature. Dynamic Perspective tracks your head, and works out the distance it isthe screen, to produce 3D-like graphics on-screen. Firefly is a supercharged barcode scanner which you can use to scan, well, anything. A pub sign, a car, a magazine, a bottle of beer. You name it, Firefly will scan it, and then probably try and make you buy something. Mayday - Amazon's 24-7-365 interactive customer service - also makes the leapthe Kindle Fire HDX tablet to the Fire phone. Thatsounds lovely, but is it any good? We've taken a look at the early hands on Amazon Fire phone reviewsaround the web to gauge the interest. Gizmodo Gizmodo doesn't hold back, declarin

Amazon's new smartphone, the Fire Phone, hits stores July 25. Preorders started June 18. At the phone's launch event, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that the company tried to build a phone that was extremely innovative and different. There are some major features that set it apart right off the bat, including its "dynamic perspective" effects, which make images feel 3-D, its motion-sensing capabilities, and Firefly, its visual search engine.  Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions. Amazon shows off its dynamic perspective feature right from the lock screen. When you tilt the phone, you see the balloons from slightly different angles so they feel 3-D. Although you can use any picture you want as a lock screen, the Fire ships with more than a dozen custom images that will take advantage of dynamic perspective. The Fire also shows off dynamic perspective working tog