News Grower

Independent coverage of AI, startups, and technology.

Ars Technica May 13, 2026 at 17:06 Big Tech Stable Warm

Amazon devices chief says a new smartphone is “just not the goal”

"We know what customers need right now.”

Signal weather

Stable

The story has moved beyond the first headline and now acts as a reliable context anchor.

By Scharon Harding Original source
Amazon devices chief says a new smartphone is “just not the goal”

In March, Reuters reported that Amazon was developing a new smartphone. Citing four anonymous “people familiar with the matter,” the publication said that Amazon was exploring using Alexa as an operating system and developing the phone, codenamed Transformer, to push people to use Amazon’s AI and other services. At the time, the sources said that Transformer could still be canceled, and Amazon declined to comment on the report to Ars Technica. In an interview published on the Financial Times (FT) today, Panos Panay, Amazon's head of devices and services, said building a new phone isn’t Amazon’s goal. The company already tried selling a smartphone in 2014, but it discontinued the Fire Phone about a year later following poor sales. Read full article Comments

Stay on the signal

Follow Amazon devices chief says a new smartphone is “just not the goal”

Follow this story beyond a single article: new follow-ups, adjacent sources, and the evolving storyline.

We send a confirmation link first, then only meaningful digests.

Story map

Understand this topic fast

A quick entry into the story: why it matters now, who is involved, and where to go next for context.

Why it matters now

This story is still moving and pulling follow-up coverage.
There are already 6 connected articles in the same storyline to continue from here.
The story keeps orbiting around Amazon, Amazon Devices, and Ars Technica, so the entity pages are the fastest way to build context.
Ars Technica already has 4 follow-up stories on the same theme.

Topic constellation

Open the live map for this story

See which entities, story threads, sources, and follow-up articles shape this story right now.

Click nodes to continue

Entity Cluster Article Hub Source

Story timeline

Continue with this story

A short sequence of events and follow-up stories to understand the arc quickly.

Jun 27, 2026 at 11:07 Ars Technica

Apple and Audi alumni have made a luxe EV based on the moon buggy

The Amble One is a street-legal $25,000 electric buggy designed for luxury resorts.

Jun 26, 2026 at 22:19 Ars Technica

South Korea plans to train entire military as "drone warriors"

Half-million strong military will train on drones as “universal combat tool.”

Jun 26, 2026 at 21:43 Ars Technica

Doctors suspected man had brain cancer. He actually had worms.

His doctors went looking for cancer, then they saw the worms' heads.

Jun 26, 2026 at 21:12 Ars Technica

Streaming services’ obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California

Illinois passed a similar law, giving services more incentive to make ads less booming.

Jun 26, 2026 at 20:58 Ars Technica

Russian citizens told "switch to Android" after Apple blocks key Russian apps

Russian government lashes out at Apple's "bizarre" decisions.

May 13, 2026 at 17:06 Ars Technica

Amazon devices chief says a new smartphone is “just not the goal”

"We know what customers need right now.”

How reliable this looks

Signal and trust for Ars Technica

This source works at a rapid pace: 100% of recent stories land in the hot window, and 0% carry visible search signal.

Trusted

Reliability

92

Freshness

100

Sources in storyline

1

Related articles

More stories that share tags, source, or category context.

More from Ars Technica

Fresh reporting and follow-up coverage from the same newsroom.

Open source page