Boston, MA 06/09/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is about to release a 3D smartphone soon. Bloomberg correspondent Alix Steel spoke to BGR founder Jonathan Geller about the features of this smartphone and how it compares with iPhone of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). Geller mentioned the new 3D software interface as an interesting feature of the smartphone. The smartphone has an infra-red camera in the front which would interact with the user according to user’s head movement or the user simply tilting the phone. This novel interface would enable the users to navigate across menus, open and close applications and do other similar tasks such as accessing emails, use of control panels, etc.
The Data Plan
Prompted by Steel, Geller went on to further explain that the data plan, referred to as ‘Prime Data’ offered with the smartphone could also be a game-changer. With the tie ups that, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) could have with the likes of AT&T Inc. (NASDAQ:T), the data plan could enable the users to access Amazon’s streaming services such as music and videos and other similar content without affecting the data usage offered by the telecom partner. Geller further expressed the view that the software features of the phone such as the data plan and 3D interface would be the ones that the company would like to highlight and compete in the market, rather than the hardware. From a cost perspective, the forthcoming release could be a mid-range phone, with a lower cost phone planned for release soon after.
Uber Technologies Inc.
Uber has raised $1.5bn in a fresh funding round from a consortium of mutual funds and other investors led by Fidelity Investments, following a $17 billion valuation of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Responding to a question by Bloomberg correspondent on this valuation, Geller felt that it was extremely high, but added that the funding comes with downside protection for the investors in terms of liquidation preferences and other special rights. Geller mentioned that while the chances of the company going the IPO route in the future exist, there is no authentic information available on it yet.
Uber is way ahead of its competitors such as Lyft in its service levels and has got the attention of the users of its service and perhaps that has helped the company in this valuation. But it does seem that this high valuation could have a positive rub-off on other similar companies for some time.
