Amazon puts Alexa in the browser with Echosim.io

Amazon has put Alexa, the voice-powered AI software found in the Echo, Dot and Tap, right inside the browser with the launch of Echosim.io.

After logging in with an Amazon account, anyone can start asking Alexa questions by clicking and holding on the mic button.

Amazon’s Alexa is able to answer basic questions around information, weather, news and music and control other gadgets in the home. But since launch, one of the real differentiators for the Echo has been integration with third-party developers.

With an Amazon Echo, you can use your voice to order anything from a pizza to an Uber or even tune your guitar.

The issue, however, is that most people who don’t own an Echo have no opportunity to play around with the device and see how it works. With Echosim.io, built by Nexmo developer advocate Sam Machin at a hackathon in 2015, anyone with access to the web can check out how Alexa works.

Amazon has been taking strides toward turning Alexa into a platform that stretches past Amazon’s own hardware. Recently, the company launched SDKs and APIs so that both hardware and software developers could integrate Alexa into their wares.

This latest move just puts Alexa in an even more accessible place.

If you want to try out Alexa in the browser, head over to Echosim.io.