Microsoft has confirmed that Cortana—its smart digital assistant—will be launched on both iPhone and Android in June. Cortana comes with several features that make it a direct competitor for Apple’s Siri, and Google Now.
Here is a quick rundown of what you can expect.
Working on the Go
According to Microsoft, Cortana will be part of a phone companion app in Windows 10, which PC users will have access to after upgrading to the new OS coming out later this year. This app will help Windows PC users connect iOS and Android devices to their computers to synchronize the devices.
Describing Cortana’s role, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore states, “Part of the power of a personal assistant comes from being available on the go, on the device you carry with you everywhere.” When you start something on your PC, the app will help you to finish the task even if you have to go out and work from your phone, irrespective of your location.
Dictating an email, setting reminders, searching for information, tracking or booking a flight, Cortana will help you do all that with a minimum of fuss. Cortana’s Notebook will be visible in all the devices you use, and will synchronize and track changes automatically.
Synchronizing Between Devices
Cortana automatically synchronizes with your music app, OneDrive, Skype, OneNote, and Outlook.com accounts. This level of integration ensures that all your documents and multimedia files and emails are available on all your devices. Because of this, users won’t have to transfer their favorite or most used content between their devices manually, with everything available everywhere.
Although the app promises to perform well on Android and iOS platforms, there has been speculation about its functionality being somewhat limited. Certain features such as voice activation by saying “Hey Cortana” might need special permissions to use the microphone. As of now, this feature is exclusively available on Windows PCs and phones.
Many are of the opinion that Cortana has leapt in front of Siri and Google Now because of the synchronization. However, it remains to be seen how well Cortana will perform in the field.
In your opinion, will Cortana live up to the expectations? How do you feel about synchronizing your documents and multimedia content across your devices automatically? Let us know in the comments below.
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I will definitely try this out. If it does what Google Now does as well as it does it AND syncs my Microsoft data across my devices, it will change the way I do things. I really hope it delivers what it seems to be promising.