Amazon announces June 18 launch event for new device

The Amazon logo is seen on a podium duri

Amazon has just announced that it will be hosting a ‘launch event’ on June 18. The company doesn’t offer up a whole lot of details, other than founder Jeff Bezos will be on hand, and a new device will be shown off.

In addition to sending out invitations, and tweeting about the event, Amazon has also posted a cryptic video of people trying out the device. They don’t say way it is, or show it, but it sounds like the rumored smartphone…

Rumors regarding an Amazon smartphone have been bouncing around for years, but have particularly heated up within the last several months. In April, The WSJ reported that the handset would be ready by the summer.

Last month, BGR got its hands on some leaked marketing materials, which said the phone had 4 front cameras that enabled glasses-free 3D and a tilt-based interface. This would certainly explain the reactions in the video.

bgr-amazon-smartphone-kindle-fire-phoneAlleged internal Amazon slide

Of course, Amazon could be introducing a new tablet or other device with the aforementioned 3D tech, but smart money is on a smartphone. The company already has a successful tablet line, and just launched a new set-top box.

In addition to glasses-free 3D, and a tilt-based interface, the Amazon phone is said to have a 4.7-inch 720p display, a quad-core Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, and run a forked version of Android with Amazon content stores.

Previous reports have suggested that the device will be shown off in June, and launch in September—right around the time that Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 6.