Having successfully taken on the major players in the tablet computer market, Amazon is apparently ready to enter the smartphone arena.

Amazon announced online Wednesday a "launch event" for a yet-to-be-announced "new device" that is presumably the smartphone the company has been rumored to be developing. While not confirmed, unnamed sources have said in various reports that Amazon is preparing to use 3-D technology for its smartphone and a mysterious promo video is hinting to that as well.

Amazon is allowing members of the public the chance to request an invite to the event being held in Seattle, Wash. on June 18.

According to MarketWatch, analysts have had mixed feelings on the prospect of an Amazon smartphone.

"An Amazon smartphone could be fraught with risk," Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Robert W. Baird, wrote in a note last month, obtained by the website. "Understandably there are concerns about Apple's and Google's platform dominance in mobile devices, but launching a stand-alone phone could add margin pressures and significant competitive headwinds."

Amazon broke into the tablet market with its Kindle Fire line, adapting its famous e-reader. With rave reviews and low prices, Amazon has put a dent in Google and Apple's tablet sales with the Kindle Fire HDX, the latest model. Amazon has been successful by selling its tablet at cost, not profiting off the sale of the device, but off products on its online store and app market, a model they could bring to its smartphone.

"What [Amazon CEO Jeff] Bezos will be doing is flipping it from a hardware model to a services model," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told MarketWatch. "Bezos is a disruptive element, and making life miserable for everyone."

The analyst said Amazon is also expected to utilize 3-D technology with the smartphone's screen to give the illusion of a larger screen. This could help Amazon capitalize on the trend of larger screens among devices currently on the market.

"A 3-D screen will allow you to basically have multiple virtual panels you can see into the device," Enderle said. "You could get a ton more space to put stuff on, and then rotate the box to sharpen the focus on the one item you want."