What Happened
Amazon took advantage of Uber’s API and integrated the on-demand car service into its smart speaker Echo. After enabling the Uber skill in the Echo app, users will be able to simply request an Uber ride simply by asking Alexa, the AI-powered virtual assistant embedded in Echo. You can also talk with Alexa to find out when your ride will be arriving or to cancel the ride.
Earlier this week, Echo also integrated Domino’s app to give Alexa the ability to order pizzas and track delivery, while adding support for streaming music (and ads for free-tier users) from Spotify. Amazon will be making its Super Bowl debut this Sunday with a celebrity-studded spot for Echo, and adding these useful skills certainly makes for a strong case as the company gets ready to push Echo into mainstream consumer market.
What Brands Need To Do
As Alexa’s list of skills continues to grow, Amazon Echo is becoming an increasingly business-friendly platform for brands to connect with consumers via a conversational interface. For brands, this kind of interface presents new challenges in discovery because they only give out limited options upon requests. Therefore, brands will need to be active in getting on board with those voice-activated devices via deep integrations or partnerships.
For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.
Source: The Verge
Header image courtesy of Amazon on YouTube
