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Microsoft has been playing catch-up in the smartphone market for some time, but there’s one area where it has managed to create something of an advantage: virtual assistants.
Cortana, the voice-based assistant that is built into Windows products, has now made the jump to the iPhone and Android platforms as an app.
Both iOS and Android have launched apps in their official stores for Cortana, but the bad news is it’s limited to the US for now.
The app has the potential to be a big, bold step as it enables iPhone and Android users to better sync with their PC – with reminders, schedule and other info working better across the two platforms. The full Cortana database of knowledge is now also available across both devices – so users can track sports scores as well as flights and the stock market.
That’s on top of the more light-hearted stuff that Cortana can do, such as answer random questions and tell jokes.
If you’ve ever encountered Siri, this will be very familiar to you, though in several speed and accuracy tests of Cortana alongside Siri and Google Now, the Windows creation has come out on top. So this is worth keeping an eye on if and when it comes to the UK.
It still remains to be seen whether Cortana can be as truly powerful on third-party devices seeing as both Apple and Google could limit the amount of features on your device the app can gain access to.
But this launch is also interesting because it shows the mindset of Microsoft – which appears to have accepted that users are likely to have something other than a Windows Phone. Bringing Cortana to them not only shows the company in a more pragmatic light, but also serves as a good way to introduce users to Windows software, and maybe entice a switch.
