There have been rumblings about Amazon producing its own smartphone for a few years now. Way back in 2011, before the release of Amazon’s first Android tablet even, Android and Me was reporting that, “Amazon has an “entire family” of Android devices,” and speculated that this family would include, “several sizes of tablets and at least one smartphone.”¹ Although the smartphone never materialized during the 2011 holiday season, the rumors persisted.

Alas, DigiTimes is reporting that the new device is reportedly launching sometime this year:

The smartphone supply chain is starting to prepare smartphone component orders from Amazon for a device set to release in 2014, according to industry sources.

The sources said that Amazon is finally ready to mass produce a smartphone in 2014, with orders starting to be sent to the supply chain as of March 2014, including to companies such as FIH Mobile.²

While there is very little that is know about the specifications of functionality of the phone, there are some really interesting rumors. Again, from the DigiTimes report:

Exact specifications of the device have yet to be revealed but other market buzz is stating it will have a 5-inch HD screen in addition to possible 3D gesture tracking, a 13-megapixel camera and a Snapdragon 800 processor.³

Way back in May of 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported a great number of insider claims about the new 3D phone screen. If true, the new 3D phone will be pretty remarkable:

Using retina-tracking technology, images on the smartphone would seem to float above the screen like a hologram and appear three-dimensional at all angles, they said. Users may be able to navigate through content using just their eyes, two of the people said.⁴

Further, while there is also no confirmation on which manufacturer will be producing the Amazon Phone, Bloomberg is reporting that it will most likely be HTC.⁵ As we learn more, we will keep you updated with all the latest developments.