Image source: http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2014/06/18/amazon-revealed-long-awaited-smartphone/Critics of the Amazon's Fire phone boasts a number of exciting features, but none of which satisfy the current market.As Christopher Mims from the Wall Street Journal writes, the Fire phone and its features are "probably more useful for Amazon than for its customers".According to Mims, there are three central problems with Amazon's Fire phone that is keeping it off the shelves as a leading smartphone contender: pre-existing smartphone loyalty, a heavily saturated North American smartphone market, and a crippling case of the "app gap" on the Fire OS.Even under the best circumstances, the idea of switching smartphones can present daunting challenges for many users. In addition to transferring and running the risk of losing important contacts and photos, users would also have to familiarize themselves with a new interface. Amazon is also faced with a heavily saturated smartphone market in North America. Both Apple and Android have only further strengthened their positions as the leading smartphone contenders by introducing media and apps that only work on Android or iOS.However, one of the most significant problems facing Amazon's Fire is the "app gap" that the hardware faces. Operating on the Fire OS, the Fire doesn't work with Google Play or the App Store, leaving the Fire with only 10% of the app availability that both the leading smartphone contenders currently offer.All of these central problems act as significant barriers for consumers, restricting them from adopting the Fire. The Fire has also been criticized for its redundant "Firefly" button, which essentially already exists in the Amazon app for iPhone as "Flow". The button allows users to turn any real-world object into a "buy" button, connecting users back to the Amazon world of online shopping.Ultimately, Amazon's attempts with the Fire to turn the real world into one big Amazon shopping cart may just be too much, too late.Original ArticleMims, Christopher. "Amazon Unveiled a Phone and No One Is Going to Buy It, @mims Says. - Digits - WSJ." Digits RSS. Wall Street Journal, 19 June 2014. Web. 23 June 2014.
