Amazon’s 3D smartphone to feature four front-facing cameras

Talk of an Amazon smartphone is once again making the rounds. We’ve heard confirmation in the past that Amazon has a team of engineers and programmers working on a handset project but now some new details have surfaced that aim to shed some light on exactly what the company may be working on behind closed doors.

Amazon is once again said to be working on not one but two smartphones – shoring up similar chatter from earlier this year. Of course, it’s worth pointing out that Amazon also developed multiple tablet prototypes before ultimately launching the original Kindle Fire so take that for what it’s worth.

The high-end phone will reportedly use a unique 3D interface that requires four front-facing cameras to track the position of a user’s head and arrange the on-screen effects accordingly. We are hearing that only the primary user would be able to see the 3D effect. Additionally, the device will include augmented reality features baked in and can even match real-world items with those sold on its website.

A second, budget-minded handset does away with the fancy 3D interface to help keep the cost of ownership down. Previous rumors suggested the company might even give such a phone away free of charge but Amazon was quick to debunk that myth.

Either way, we are told that neither phone will hit retail this year so there’s still plenty of time to let this rumor simmer and develop in the coming months.