The First Alexa Phone Gets Amazon Even Closer to Total Domination

Amazon's Alexa has plenty going for it. Developers have trained the virtual assistant with over 10,000 "skills"--apps you talk to instead of tap--to do everything from hailing a Lyft to checking your stock portfolio. At home, Alexa can control the lights, set timers, play your local NPR station, and generally achieve that Jarvis-level assistance that feels so much like the future. Until now, though, Alexa lacked what it needs more than any of those things to secure its success: a fighting chance on smartphones. Alexa already lives on Android and iOS.