Uber has opened up its online booking to allow any app to call a car. Previously, only a handful of Uber's corporate partners had permission to hail Uber cars directly. Now, the ride-hailing service hopes app developer will boost its usage by including car-hailing capabilities. The firm said it hoped developers would use the system to make their apps 'smarter'. In blog post Uber recently said it would be partnering with roboticists at Carnegie Mellon University. It is said to have opened a research facility in Pittsburgh with the intention of creating a self-driving car, going head-to-head with Google's efforts. Google was an early backer of the San Francisco-based firm, investing $258 million (£170 million) in the controversial ride-sharing service through its venture capital arm in August 2013. David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer and senior vice president of corporate development, then joined the Uber board of directors. Uber is already working with companies such as Starbucks, United, OpenTable, TimeOut and TripAdvisor - but  now anyone can write an app that uses Uber. 'This makes great business sense for us and our driver partners,' said Rahul Bijor, API product manager at Uber. 'Every new ride request that comes through the API means even more business for our driver partners,' he said. The firm said it hoped developers would use the system to make their apps 'smarter'. 'We are eager to make this endpoint available because we know how satisfying it is to create technology that impacts the physical world,' the firm said. 'Putting this power in the hands of developers has our imaginations running wild. 'Should an Uber be waiting immediately after your last meeting of the day? Will someone create a way to request a car with just a simple SMS? We have no idea what you might build, but we cannot wait to find out.' The ride-hailing company, which links drivers to riders through an app, announced plans this month to create 1 million jobs for women as drivers by 2020 — suggesting aggressive growth plans for the coming five years. In the U.S., where Uber got its start six years ago, the company boasts 160,000 active drivers - just 14% of them are women. 'Uber does not require (minimum) hours, and it does not require a schedule,' Salle Yoo, Uber's general counsel, said in an interview on Monday, referring to why women might find working for Uber attractive. 'It offers the chance to be entrepreneurial, the chance to balance work and family.' Female passengers will not yet have the ability to request female drivers, Yoo said. She emphasized the app's safety features, including the notification of the driver's identity received by customers on their phones beforehand, and the ability to share via text message an estimated arrival time with others. The pledge comes as the rapidly expanding company deals with fallout over incidents of assaults by drivers from Boston and Chicago to Delhi. In the highest-profile case, an Indian woman said in December her driver raped her in Delhi, leading to outcries and a temporary ban of Uber in that city. Uber screens drivers, including the use of background checks that vary from country to country. It does not hire drivers as full employees. Instead, it lets them use the smartphone-based app to connect them to passengers looking for a paid ride, and takes a cut of the fare. The ride-hailing company, which links drivers to riders through an app, announced plans this month to create 1 million jobs for women as drivers by 2020 — suggesting aggressive growth plans for the coming five years. Uber lets consumers use an app to locate a driver and instantly book a ride. Google Maps software is already integrated into Uber to let users check progress of drivers on their way to pick them up. San Francisco-based Uber has grown into one of the world's largest start-ups, and now operates in more than 200 cities in 54 countries around the world. But the app's growth has also cause friction with existing taxi operations, and posed challenges for regulators. Uber does not employ drivers or own its vehicles, but instead uses independent contractors with their own cars. Since launching in 2010, Uber has also been dubbed a prime example of a 'disruptive' economic force, and taxi drivers in dozens of cities have staged protests against the firm.
Uber told MailOnline it expects to close the deCarta deal 'later this week'
Mapping service will be used to boost the cab service's current offerings . May give it independence from Google, on whose maps it service relies . Deal bolsters rumours Uber is serious about building an autonomous car . Californian firm is said to have built a research centre in Pittsburgh with the intention of creating a self-driving car .