Amazon Said to Be Creating iPhone Rival

There are only winners in the Game of Phones. Or is it that there are only losers?

Amazon is developing smartphone to compete with the ubiquitous iPhone and the current crop of Android smartphones according to two anonymous sources who spoke with Bloomberg. One of them said that Amazon is working directly with Foxconn, the Chinese company that works with Apple. Amazon is also reportedly acquiring a treasure chest of wireless technology patents. Theories, opinions, and anxiety ran wild on tech blogs after the story broke Friday morning even though there are few details.

TechCrunch points out that to have a remote chance at even the possibility of success, the new phone will need a serious hook, and that “just being cheap isn’t good enough.” ReadWriteWeb explores the potential of new competition in the smartphone race; Amazon could work out a deal with carriers to sell directly to the prepaid market, undercutting Apple and Samsung.The new smartphone could include Amazon’s supposed mapping service currently in the works, Mashable speculates.

The San Francisco Chronicle blog’s opinion is yet unclear: “This is a baffling move. We see absolutely zero reason for Amazon to make a phone.” Others, however, see no reason for Amazon not to make a phone. ZDNet says the company "already has most of the infrastructure in place that would be required by a smartphone," including an app store, a media distribution center, and experience dealing with wireless carriers.

The rumor of an Amazon phone isn't new. A Citigroup analyst first announced in November that Amazon was working on a smartphone with the help of Foxconn.