Amazon 'Kindle' phone event: no livestream, press passes sent out in the last minute

Today is the big day for Amazon - the company will unveil its first smartphone to a select crowd of journalists, but the big announcement is already marred by a few missteps of the company’s PR department. First, Amazon has decided not to livestream its ‘Kindle’ phone event. It will upload a video of the event right after it ends, along with ads and more promo materials, but a livestream to allow for everyone interested to tune in will simply not be available.

Not just this, Amazon had sent out invites to the press way in advance, but those invitations required a confirmation by Amazon itself, and journalists did not get it until just around a week prior to the event. Moreover, Amazon disclosed the place where it’d hold the event merely a day before it!

If that sounds like a little logistical disaster to you, you’re not alone. The Amazon ‘Kindle’ phone has leaked out extensively in the past month, and we have a rough idea about what it’d be - a 4.7” device with a novel, glasses-free 3D-esque tech and novel interface using gestures rather than tap-and-slide. It will also be an AT&T exclusive, just like the iPhone, but some carriers like T-Mobile - dissatisfied with this exclusive policy - have been quick to remind of another AT&T-exclusive device that was a big flop, the HTC First, also known as the ‘Facebook phone’.

Will this indeed be a revolutionary device a la iPhone, or a big disappointment? Tune in for our live coverage of the event later today to find out.

source: TechCrunch