Microsoft has officially confirmed that it will be bringing its famed voice assistant - Cortana - to Android and the iOS platform.
Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant has been the subject of rave reviews since first emerging with Windows Phone 8.1, and having begun life as a mobile-based service, will be an integral part of the software giant's wider ecosystem with Windows 10. As the company continues to ready its forthcoming edition of Windows, it has now been revealed that Cortana will be headed to both iOS and Android in the near future, and given the numerous capabilities of Cortana and the improvements that'll no doubt arrive during the coming months, it's a move that actually makes a great deal of sense.
As tech consumers, we've something of an affinity to voice assistants, particularly new ones. The massive fuss made when Apple dropped Siri a couple of years ago was equaled by the fanfare surrounding Windows Phone 8.1's Cortana, and while Microsoft's effort is naturally a more refined, well-rounded and personable feature than Siri was at launch, Cortana remains a work in progress. In fact, right now, Microsoft is attempting to spread Cortana beyond the confines of Windows Phone and onto the other major segments of its ecosystem, and a new Windows 9 screenshot offers a sneak peek of how it may eventually take shape on the desktop and tablet.
For some reason, the tech world spends more time parodying voice assistants than actually using them, and just like when Siri and Google Now first arrived, we got a little excited about Microsoft's Cortana earlier on this year at BUILD. Certainly, the software giant is every enthusiastic about the software, which is based on the virtual voice of the character from Halo, and with the HTC One M8 confirmed as releasing on Windows Phone, Microsoft has taken the opportunity to take a swipe at Apple and Siri once more.
Microsoft's next major operating system release, set to be named Windows 9, might not be ready to hit the shelves until next year, but reports have already started surfacing with respect to what it will curtail. According to sources close to the matter, the next iteration of Windows will include Microsoft's digital assistant, Cortana, embedded deeply within the operating system.
Since being announced at this year’s BUILD developers’ conference, the tech world has remained fascinated by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1. Given that Cortana, the company’s first mobile voice assistant, has commanded the lion’s share of attention since rolling out with WP8.1, it shouldn’t come as much of a shock that in today’s update to the mobile software, it’s once again the center of attention. As well as offering some improvements to the current Cortana set-up, the feature is now rolling out across several new markets as a result of the bump, and with a number of general tweaks to Windows Phone 8.1 across the board, this is a pretty significant enhancement.
We cannot, it seems, help but get carried away by voice assistants, and even though Microsoft joined the party extremely late with the introduction of Cortana earlier this year, the amount of hype it has generated for the software giant will certainly do Windows Phone's cause no harm whatsoever. Having already been compared a dozen times to Google Now and Apple's Siri, Cortana has had the benefit of watching and learning from both, but while the Halo-based voice assistant has clearly borrowed from its two longer-serving rivals in many departments, Siri is now looking to Cortana for inspiration.
As a part of the Windows Phone 8.1 announcement, Microsoft finally took the wraps off Cortana, it's ecosystem's very own answer to Siri and Google Now. At the time, the software maker touted it as a voice assistant encompassing the best features of Apple and Google's respective services, and such is the faith that the Windows maker has in Cortana, that versions for iOS and Android are now being prepared.
Siri may have become something of a modern cult figure since its introduction alongside the iPhone 4s back in 2011, but with the big announcement of Windows Phone 8.1 last week, Microsoft also took the wraps off Cortana, its very own Siri alternative. Given the very nature of the mobile market, we know that competition will be fierce, and as per a very funny, mocked-up parade of the respective voice assistants on an American chat show, the blue touchpaper has already been well and truly lit.
Plenty of Windows Phone users had been waiting on the announcement of Windows Phone 8.1 at BUILD 2014, and finally got their wish today as Microsoft reeled off an extensive list of new features soon headed to current Windows Phone 8 devices in the form of a gleaming new update. As well as the likes of Action Center and significant improvements to the lock screen and home screen, one of the key new features of Windows Phone 8.1 is Cortana, the voice assistant that will serve as the software giant’s very own take on Siri, and given the cult status of Apple's digital slave, Microsoft seized upon the opportunity to release a series of clips explaining why Cortana will be better.
