The New Alexa Tablets Feel Like a Blueprint for an Amazon Phone
The New Alexa Tablets Feel Like a Blueprint for an Amazon Phone
Save this story. Is Amazon making a smartphone? A Reuters report from earlier this year revealed details about a device codenamed Transformer under development, with Amazon’s Alexa+ AI assistant as the focus of the experience.
保存此报道。亚马逊正在制造智能手机吗？路透社今年早些时候的一篇报道披露了一款代号为“Transformer”的在研设备细节，该设备以亚马逊的 Alexa+ AI 助手为核心体验。
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.
随着亚马逊周四宣布对其平板电脑产品线进行全面品牌重塑——砍掉廉价的 Fire 平板电脑，取而代之的是终于运行 Android 系统并可访问 Google Play 商店的高端 Alexa 平板电脑——我们现在有了一个搭载 Android 系统的亚马逊手机可能样子的蓝图。
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).
亚马逊升级版的 Alexa+ 助手在平板电脑上占据了核心位置。主屏幕上有一个常驻的“询问 Alexa”（Ask Alexa）小部件，让你能够呼叫助手并向其提问——你也可以通过说“Alexa”来触发它。但 Alexa+ 现在终于具备了亚马逊所称的“屏幕智能”（On-Screen Intelligence）。就像 Android 手机上的 Google Gemini 或 iPhone 上的 Apple Siri 一样，它们可以读取你的屏幕并回答上下文相关的问题，Alexa 现在也具备了相同的功能（如果你选择开启的话）。
The Ask Alexa widget is accessible in the corner of the Alexa Tablet. Photograph: Julian Chokkattu. 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.
“询问 Alexa”小部件位于 Alexa 平板电脑的角落。摄影：Julian Chokkattu。这可以用于总结网页等简单事项，但也能处理更复杂的任务。正在观看关于某款新产品的 YouTube 视频？问问 Alexa 该产品是否在亚马逊上有售，如果有，就把它加入你的亚马逊购物车。正在阅读一篇关于你所在地区新餐厅的 Infatuation 文章？让 Alexa 标出离你办公室最近的那些餐厅。
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.
Alexa 还支持“实时会话”，就像 Gemini Live 或 ChatGPT 的语音模式一样——它让你能与助手进行自由的往复对话。也许你正专注于一个 DIY 项目，希望 Alexa 能按照你的节奏缓慢地说明步骤。它还支持视觉智能：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有用的建议。水管漏水了？对准摄像头并问问 Alexa 如何修理。
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.
对于 Alexa 来说，这些是全新的体验。亚马逊设备副总裁凯文·基思（Kevin Keith）告诉《连线》（WIRED），公司此前“确实没有合适的产品来使用”这些功能，但现在随着 Android 平板电脑的推出，这个问题已经解决了。
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.”
但这些功能非常适合智能手机，在那里它们可能更有用。当我向基思提到这一点时，他笑了笑说：“我们对此无可奉告。有趣的想法。”
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.) 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.
众所周知，亚马逊曾在 2014 年尝试制造一款智能手机——Fire Phone——但由于应用生态系统有限、销量惨淡以及过度依赖噱头功能，该产品在发布后不久就停产了，成为了一次巨大的失败。（甚至其设计师最近也表示对此感到尴尬。）这可能部分解释了为什么亚马逊要放弃“Fire”品牌并砍掉其预算型平板电脑。人们可能会忘记那场灾难，当公司最终推出新手机时，也不会联想到“Fire Phone”这个名字。
Alexa+ now features On-Screen Intelligence, allowing the assistant to read the screen to understand context. Photograph: Julian Chokkattu. 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+ 现在具备了“屏幕智能”，允许助手读取屏幕以理解上下文。摄影：Julian Chokkattu。将其平板电脑切换到谷歌的 Android 系统（而不是 Fire 平板电脑运行的分叉版本）并添加 Google Play 商店，是一种无声的承认：没有健康的应用程序生态系统，就很难蓬勃发展。这也为手机的成功奠定了基础，因为它不会像最初的 Fire Phone 那样一上市就让人感到应用匮乏。
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.
Alexa+ 目前是一项付费服务，需要 Alexa+ 订阅或 Amazon Prime 会员资格。然而，亚马逊表示，任何拥有其新款 Alexa 平板电脑的用户都可以免费获得 Alexa+，亚马逊手机很可能也会如此。毕竟，亚马逊的设备是引导用户在 Amazon.com 上购物的工具。皮尤研究中心 2022 年的一项调查显示，76% 的美国人使用智能手机购买产品。亚马逊希望对其用户用于购物的硬件拥有更直接的控制权是合乎逻辑的，特别是如果它将 Alexa 塑造成一个可以为你购物的贴心助手的话。
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.
最近，亚马逊一直致力于使其硬件更加高端化。在微软 Surface 的创造者帕诺斯·帕奈（Panos Panay）于 2023 年加入公司担任设备与服务主管后，这一行动似乎有所加强。这些升级努力包括 2025 年推出的众多 Echo 扬声器，由于硬件升级，它们的价格较前代产品有显著提高。10 月初宣布的 Kindle 现在有了时尚的铝制版本，比以往任何时候都更薄、更轻。最新的 Alexa 平板电脑功能更强大，采用铝制材料，感觉非常像 iPad。
Amazon hardware chief Panos Panay at a launch event in the fall of 2025. Photograph: Julian Chokkattu. 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.
亚马逊硬件主管帕诺斯·帕奈在 2025 年秋季的发布会上。摄影：Julian Chokkattu。帕奈在微软的最后几年致力于失败的 Microsoft Duo 折叠智能手机。当它发布时，他坚持认为它不是手机，而是一款属于新类别的专注于生产力的设备。
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.
路透社的报道暗示，亚马逊的手机可能具备一种“AI 界面”，即业界常说的生成式用户界面，它消除了对传统应用商店的需求。可能当帕奈最终走上舞台揭晓亚马逊“Alexa”手机时，他会再次声称它不是手机，而是你口袋里一个顺应你需求的贴心 AI 助手——这标志着它与市场上其他所有 Android 平板手机有着明显的区别。
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.
智能手机市场目前处于困境。由于内存危机，设备价格越来越贵，出货量连续几个季度下滑，而美国市场三星和苹果的双头垄断使得其他参与者难以突围。一些老牌智能手机公司已经放弃并退出了市场，比如今年夏天的 OnePlus 或去年的 HMD。
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.
美国买家的选择已经不多了。然而，一款由非中国公司制造、并有亚马逊零售主导地位支持的亚马逊手机，可能会迅速吞噬摩托罗拉和谷歌正在争夺的市场份额。