AT&T Inc will exclusively carry
Amazon.com Inc's
long-rumoured smartphone that is expected to be
launched on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the plans.The
report says:AT&T Inc. T -0.14% will be the exclusive carrier for Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +0.41%'s new smartphone, which is expected to be unveiled on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the plans.The arrangement extends Amazon's relationship with AT&T, which also provides wireless service to Kindle tablets and e-readers. The move could help AT&T attract new subscribers at a time of intense competition among wireless carriers.Amazon.com revived speculation about its next major product earlier this month, using a mysterious YouTube video and website post to announce a June 18 "launch event" in Seattle to be hosted by Chief Executive Jeff Bezos.The Journal and several tech blogs have reported that Amazon may be working on a phone with a three-dimensional display.Amazon hopes to distinguish its phone in a crowded market with a screen capable of displaying seemingly three-dimensional images without special glasses, according to a Wall Street Journal article citing people briefed on the plans. The phone would employ retina-tracking technology embedded in four front-facing cameras, or sensors, to make some images appear to be 3-D, similar to a hologram, according to the story.AT&T was the exclusive partner of
Apple Inc when it launched the
iPhone in 2007.
Written with inputs from Reuters