The mighty Amazon is rumoured to have a smartphone up its sleeve with more to offer than we've heard so far. Now word has slipped out that it's working with Asian compact camera manufacturers for advanced sensors that will allow 3D gesture and eye-tracking control in its first smartphone, due next year.

Sources of Apple Insider, which have been reliable in the past with Amazon matters, claim the handset will arrive in the second quarter of 2014. The newly developed sensors will offer an entirely new input method.

Six compact camera modules will be crammed into the device. Four are VGA cameras which will sit at the four corners of the phone. This will allow control with highly accurate 3D gestures and eye tracking.

The Amazon smartphone will also come with two traditional cameras at 13-megapixels in the rear and with a huge 12-megapixel forward facing snapper. Should make selfies easier if nothing else.

Amazon is said to be working with Primax, Liteon and Sunny Optical to create the camera modules. The high-end handset will arrive with a more affordable version - whether this features the sensory controls is not clear at this stage where the whole thing is still code named Project Smith.

According to yet more unnamed sources, so we've got the salt cellar out, the device will come with a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and a 4.7-inch display.

We've already heard rumours of an Amazon smartphone due out in 2014. We've also heard about a phone with 3D display - perhaps this was a misinterpretation of the 3D gesture controls.

Either way if Amazon hopes to stick to its model of selling at a loss and gaining on content sales, it will have to be bold, as the camera module alone is said to be costing it $40 - not cheap as a small part of the handset. Perhaps the rumoured partnership with HTC will help save some money?

Fingers crossed and eyes peeled for this mobile redefining handset in early 2014.