Amazon's Alexa is seemingly everywhere — except an Amazon phone

Amazon Tap is envisioned as a portable, Alexa-powered speaker. The list of products, services, and apps that Alexa can communicate with gets larger every day. Alexa is a homebody, which means it's missing out on half the party. Despite Amazon's push to spread its voice-oriented digital assistant to everything from light bulbs to Fords to Fitbits, Alexa's dominance remains inside the company's hit Echo speakers -- and their berth, plugged in at home. These put Amazon in an awkward position: cede the untethered, outside world to rivals, attempt another shot at mobile phones -- a market where it has had a rare, glaring fumble -- or attempt a third way that relies on a bevy of partnerships.