Amazon’s Alexa can now order you an Uber

Amazon has had a busy week adding new capabilities to its Echo smart home speaker. First it was ordering pizza for the Super Bowl, then came support for listening to Spotify, and now users can ask digital assistant Alexa to order them an Uber ride. The ride-sharing company has announced that its API is now compatible with Echo, so those in need of a driver don't even need to take their phone out. Amazon Echo owners have their choice of phrases to use, with Alexa recognising "get me an Uber," "request me a ride," and "call me a ride," among other variations.

You can use Amazon's Echo device to order a pizza or stream music on Spotify, so shouldn't you be able to ask the digital assistant "Alexa" to call you a car from Uber? Well, starting today, you can. Uber is announcing Friday that its application program interface, or API, has been integrated with Amazon's smart home hub.

The update may be the purest manifestation of Uber's mission to make getting you from point A to point B completely seamless. After all, what's easier than speaking the words "call me an Uber" into thin air, and having the car show up minutes later? This could be the provenance of germaphobes everywhere. (Of course, you'll still have to touch the Uber's door handle.)

"You don't have to lift a finger."

Alexa will also accept "request me a ride," "call me a ride," "get me an Uber," and dozens of other iterations. She will even accept "call me a taxi," because to Alexa, taxi is synonymous with Uber.

It's also an example of both Uber and Amazon's desire to integrate with as many other platforms as possible. Uber has set out to become the de facto transportation service by making its API available to app developers who want to add a deep link to the ride-hail service. And Amazon is out to prove its electric genie is more versatile than Apple's Siri or Microsoft's Cortana.