Amazon hopes to reignite a smartphone play, developing a fresh device which would employ its Alexa+ voice assistant more than a decade after abandoning ambitions in the sector, Reuters reported.

The news outlet stated Amazon is exploring the potential for a rebooted Fire Phone to expand its growing range of devices, a move it noted would further lock users into the company’s Alexa ecosystem.

In short, any mobile device using the assistant would ensure customers remain connected when they leave Alexa’s traditional domestic confines.

Reuters noted the device would make good on a longstanding desire by Amazon founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos to establish a presence in the smartphone space. But it cautioned there is uncertainty as to how well developed the device is and noted market uncertainties could ultimately extinguish the project.

Amazon is in the process of expanding availability of the latest version of Alexa, launching it in the UK last week after a debut in the US in 2025.

A smartphone would appear to be a logical addition to its range of home devices: Reuters highlighted the potential to advance Bezos’ ambitions to challenge Apple’s dominance along with opening a fresh seam of data about its users.

Amazon’s last foray into the sector cost it dearly, though, with the company booking a charge of $170 million in 2014 following weak sales of the Fire Phone, which it subsequently snuffed out in 2015.