Amazon's mystery unveiling Wednesday is widely expected to be a smartphone, whish is said to have 3D technology for a multidimensional display and of course, it will coe with enough apps. In a message to journalists attending Amazon.com's press event, Bezos sent copies of his favorite childhood book, "Mr. Pine's Purple House," which is about one house that stands out from the others.

And just one day before the event, Amazon said on Tuesday that its Appstore catalog has nearly tripled over the last year. The Appstore, which is mainly designed for its own Kindle line of devices, but can be accessed by other tablets and smartphones that run Google's Android mobile operating system, now boasts more than 240,000 games and applications, all available on multiple devices in 200 countries.

Proving that the Appstore has a sufficient number of apps will be critical as Amazon sets upon the task of convincing consumers that its smartphone is worth picking up.

Amazon's devices run on an altered version of Android, so they don't have access to key Google services and programs such as Google Maps, Gmail, or the Google Play store. Amazon boasted on Tuesday that interest in its version of Android has drawn increasing developer interest, and that the number of new developers who joined last month doubled from a year ago.

In any case, Amazon's new device may eventually not take away a lot of Apple and Samsung market share, but it might keep customers more engaged. A possibly scenario is an aggressively-priced smartphone with features that drive the purchase of more Amazon content, including books, electronics and streamed films or music.

AT&T will exclusively carry Amazon.com's smartphone, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the plans.