周四，亚马逊宣布对其平板电脑产品线进行全面重塑——淘汰价格低廉的 Fire 平板电脑，取而代之的是搭载安卓系统并支持访问 Google Play 商店的高端 Alexa 平板电脑。这为我们勾勒出一款基于安卓系统的亚马逊手机可能具备的模样。
With Amazon announcing a complete rebrand of its tablet line on Thursday—killing the cheap Fire Tablets and replacing them with premium Alexa Tablets that finally run Android with access to the Google Play Store—we now have a blueprint for what an Android-powered Amazon phone could look like.
亚马逊功能更强大的 Alexa+ 助手在这些平板电脑中占据核心位置。主屏幕上有一个常驻的“询问 Alexa”小组件，让你可以随时调用助手提问——你也可以直接说“Alexa”来激活它。但如今，Alexa+ 终于拥有了亚马逊所称的“屏幕智能”功能。就像安卓手机上的谷歌 Gemini 或 iPhone 上的 Siri 能够读取屏幕内容并回答情境性问题一样，Alexa 现在也具备相同的功能（前提是用户选择启用）。
Amazon's souped-up Alexa+ assistant is front and center on the tablets. There's a persistent “Ask Alexa” widget on the home screen that lets you call on the assistant to ask it questions—you can say “Alexa” to trigger it, too. But Alexa+ now finally has what Amazon calls On-Screen Intelligence. Like Google's Gemini on Android phones or Apple's Siri on iPhones, which can read your screen and answer contextual questions, Alexa now has the same functionality (if you opt in).
这项功能可用于简单的任务，例如总结网页内容，也能处理更复杂的操作。正在观看一段关于新产品 YouTube 视频？你可以问 Alexa 该产品是否在亚马逊上有售，如果有的话，还能将其添加到亚马逊购物车。正在浏览 Infatuation 网站上关于本地新餐厅的文章？你可以让 Alexa 标出离你办公室最近的几家餐厅。
That can be for simple things like summarizing a web page, but it can be used for more complex tasks. Watching a YouTube video about a new product? Ask Alexa whether the product is on Amazon, and if so, add it to your Amazon shopping cart. Perusing an Infatuation article about new restaurants in your area? Ask Alexa to highlight the ones closest to your office.
Alexa 还支持“实时对话”，就像 Gemini Live 或 ChatGPT 的语音模式一样——你可以与助手进行自由形式的互动对话。也许你正专注于某个 DIY 项目，希望 Alexa 能按照你的节奏慢慢讲解步骤。它还支持视觉智能功能：将平板电脑的摄像头对准任何物体，Alexa 就能识别该物体并提供实用建议。家里漏水了？把摄像头对准漏水处，问问 Alexa 该如何修理。
Alexa also supports “live sessions,” just like Gemini Live or ChatGPT's Voice Mode—it lets you have a free-form back-and-forth conversation with the assistant. Maybe you're focused on a DIY project and want Alexa to spell out instructions slowly at your own pace. It also supports visual intelligence: Point the tablet's camera at anything, and Alexa can identify the object and offer helpful advice. Got a water leak? Point the camera and ask Alexa how to fix it.
这些对 Alexa 来说都是全新的体验。亚马逊设备部门副总裁 Kevin Keith 告诉《WIRED》杂志，此前公司“并没有真正合适的产品来利用”这些功能，而如今，借助安卓平板电脑，这一问题终于得到了解决。
These are completely new experiences for Alexa. Amazon's vice president of devices, Kevin Keith, tells WIRED the company “didn't really have the right product to be able to use” these capabilities, but that's now solved with its Android tablets.
但这些功能放在智能手机上将非常合适，或许甚至更实用。当我向基思提及此事时，他笑了笑说：“我们目前没有相关信息可分享。有趣的想法。”亚马逊曾在2014年试图推出智能手机——Fire Phone，结果惨遭滑铁卢，上市后不久即因应用生态匮乏、销量惨淡及过度依赖噱头功能而停产。（甚至其设计师近期也表示为此感到尴尬。）
But these features would fit right in on a smartphone, where they’d perhaps be even more useful. When I mentioned this to Keith, he laughed and said: “We have nothing to share on that. Interesting idea.”Amazon notoriously tried to make a smartphone in 2014—the Fire Phone—a massive flop discontinued shortly after launch due to a limited app ecosystem, dismal sales, and an over-reliance on gimmicky features. (Even its designer recently said he was embarrassed by it.)
这或许部分解释了为何亚马逊正在弃用“Fire”品牌并停产其平价平板电脑。人们可能会淡忘那场灾难，当公司最终推出新手机时，也不会联想到“Fire Phone”这个名字。
That may partly be why Amazon is retiring the “Fire” branding and killing its budget tablets. People may forget the disaster and won't be reminded of the “Fire Phone” name when the company eventually introduces a new handset.
将平板电脑系统切换至谷歌原生Android（而非Fire平板此前运行的分支版本）并引入Google Play商店，无声地承认了：没有健康的应用生态系统，很难生存发展。此举也为手机成功奠定了基础，使其上市之初不会像初代Fire Phone那样受限于应用匮乏。
Switching its tablets over to Google's Android (rather than the forked version the Fire tablets ran) and adding the Google Play Store is a silent admission that it's hard to thrive without a healthy app ecosystem. It also sets the phone up for success, as it won't feel app-limited out of the gate like the original Fire Phone.
Alexa+目前是一项付费服务，需要订阅Alexa+或Amazon Prime会员。然而，亚马逊表示购买其新款Alexa平板的用户可免费获得Alexa+，未来推出的亚马逊手机大概率也将如此。毕竟，亚马逊的设备本质上是引导用户在Amazon.com购物的载体。2022年皮尤研究中心的一项调查显示，76%的美国人使用智能手机购买商品。亚马逊渴望更直接地掌控用户购物所用的硬件，这合情合理，尤其是当它将Alexa塑造成为能帮你购物的得力助手时。
Alexa+ is right now a paid service that requires an Alexa+ subscription or Amazon Prime. However, Amazon says anyone with its new Alexa tablet gets Alexa+ for free, and this would likely also be the case with an Amazon phone. Amazon’s devices, after all, are vehicles used to drive users to buy stuff on Amazon.com. A 2022 Pew Research Center survey showed that 76 percent of Americans purchase products using a smartphone. It makes sense that Amazon would want more direct control over the hardware people use to make those purchases, especially if it paints Alexa as a helpful assistant that can shop for you.
最近，亚马逊一直致力于让其硬件产品更具高端感。自2023年微软Surface创始人帕诺斯·帕奈加入公司担任设备与服务负责人后，这一行动似乎进一步升级。这些升级举措包括2025年推出的一系列Echo智能音箱，得益于硬件升级，其价格较前代产品显著上涨。10月初发布的Kindle电子阅读器现提供时尚的铝合金版本，且比以往任何时候都更薄更轻。最新的Alexa平板电脑性能更强劲，采用铝合金机身，手感非常接近iPad。
Recently, Amazon has been on a mission to make its hardware more premium. This crusade seems to have ramped up after Microsoft Surface creator Panos Panay joined the company as head of Devices & Services in 2023. These upscaling efforts include the slew of Echo speakers it introduced in 2025, which saw marked price increases over their predecessors thanks to upgraded hardware. The Kindles announced at the start of October now come in sleek aluminum variants and are thinner and lighter than ever. The latest Alexa Tablets are more powerful, made from aluminum, and feel very iPad-esque.
帕奈在微软的最后几年致力于已失败的Microsoft Duo折叠智能手机。该产品发布时，他坚称这不是手机，而是一款专注于生产力的设备，属于一个全新品类。
Panay spent his final few years at Microsoft on the failed Microsoft Duo folding smartphone. When it launched, he was adamant it wasn't a phone but rather a productivity-focused device that belonged in a new category.
路透社报道称，亚马逊的手机可能配备“AI界面”，即业界常称的生成式用户界面，从而省去传统应用商店的需求。届时当帕奈登台发布亚马逊“Alexa”手机时，他可能会再次声称这不是手机，而是你口袋里的得力AI助手，能根据你的需求自我调适——这将与市场上所有其他Android平板式手机形成鲜明对比。
The Reuters report suggests Amazon's phone may feature an “AI interface,” what the industry often refers to as a generative user interface, that eliminates the need for traditional app stores. It could be that when Panay eventually steps on a stage to reveal an Amazon “Alexa” Phone, he'll once again claim it's not a phone, but a helpful AI assistant in your pocket that conforms to your demands—marking a clear departure from every other Android slab on the market.
智能手机市场目前陷入某种困境。因内存危机导致设备价格上涨，出货量已连续数个季度下滑，且美国市场三星与苹果的双寡头垄断让其他厂商难以突围。知名手机厂商纷纷放弃并退出市场，如OnePlus于今夏退出，HMD则于去年退出。
The smartphone market is in a bit of a predicament right now. Devices are getting more expensive because of the memory crisis, shipments have declined for several quarters in a row, and the duopoly in the US market between Samsung and Apple makes it hard for other players to break through. Established smartphone companies have given up and left the market, like OnePlus this summer or HMD last year.
美国消费者的选择所剩无几。然而，一款由非中国背景公司打造、并依托亚马逊零售霸主地位的手机，能迅速吞噬摩托罗拉和谷歌正在争夺的那块市场蛋糕。
There isn't much choice left in for American buyers. However, an Amazon phone, made by a company that isn't based in China and backed by Amazon's retail dominance, could quickly swallow the slice of the pie Motorola and Google are fighting over.