Cortana for iOS and Android; because everything's connected!

Microsoft's personal digital assistant 'Cortana' is finally coming to iOS and Android devices. Microsoft's Joe Belfiore, whom you've seen multiple times at Microsoft's conferences, wrote on the official #-Link-Snipped-# blog that they are announcing a Windows 10 phone companion app that can connect your Windows machine to any smartphone - and that includes iPhones, Android and Windows phones as well. We already know that Windows 10 is going to be the 'final' OS from Microsoft and boy, Microsoft sure wants to get everything right!

Belfiore writes that upcoming version of Windows 10 will have the phone companion app integrated. If you use Windows phone, the integration will work out of the box. However, if you are an Android or iOS user, you will have to set up right apps on your phone so that Windows 10 can work on your device.

What will the phone companion app do? A lot of things! It will make all the content on your phone available on your PC and vice-versa. For example, if you have OneDrive app installed on your phone, you will be able to sync photos between your Windows 10 machine and phone automatically. It will also let you access all your music on all your machines - a facility for which Microsoft will release a new Music app. If you've stored notes on your phone - they will sync with Microsoft OneNote. You will then also be able to access all your OneNote content as well as docx, xlsx and pptx files right on your phone.

Cortana-iOS-Android​
The most important integration will be that of Microsoft's Cortana App. Cortana is a special natural language processing application that searches for information online and lets you do multiple things. It can set reminders for you, tell you if your flight is delayed, remind you to buy milk on the way and set alarm for you. Having the companion app will allow you to access all your Cortana's intelligence on all the devices. For example, you will be able to view all the content on Cortana's Notebook on your iPhone and even complete your tasks you started on Windows 10 on your Android. Belfiore explains it all in the following video -


​Cortana for iOS means a direct fight with Apple's Siri; which basically does the same job as Cortana. On Android, Cortana will compete with Google Now and this means that the most intelligent assistant that offers you the most personalized experience will win. The times are interesting. Do let us know your thoughts on Microsoft's strategy to hug Android and iOS like never before.

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  • Ankita Katdare
    Ankita Katdare

    @abrakadabra • May 26, 2015

    That is quite a surprise! Cortana fighting with Siri was alright. But Cortana fighting with Apple's Siri on Apple's iOS is really something!
    Meanwhile, are Google engineers back in their conference rooms to discuss their announcements at the upcoming Google I/O 2015? What do you guys think?

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  • Satya Swaroop Dash
    Satya Swaroop Dash

    @satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • May 26, 2015

    I am using Cortana on my Windows Phone and I am frustrated every time I use it. No matter what kind of accent you try it says "I'm sorry, I didn't get that." Plus the software is available in select countries only and it is still in Alpha (not Beta) and Microsoft thinks its a brilliant idea to bring a half baked service to compete against the much informative Google Now and Siri services.

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  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare

    @thebigk • May 26, 2015

    #-Link-Snipped-# - I've heard that currently Google Now is the only leading natural language processor that can identify various accents. Siri isn't good at it either. So I'm guessing Cortana will improve over time.

    The only take away from this is that Microsoft's opening to other operating systems and is becoming more mobile friendly. That's a good thing! We can't afford to have Google, Apple monopoly.

    I'm also wondering if Blackberry was deliberately kept out.

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  • Satya Swaroop Dash
    Satya Swaroop Dash

    @satya-swaroop-YDeBJM • May 26, 2015

    Kaustubh KatdareThe only take away from this is that Microsoft's opening to other operating systems and is becoming more mobile friendly. That's a good thing! We can't afford to have Google, Apple monopoly.

    Yes, Satya Nadella has made some careful changes to ensure that Microsoft technology becomes more accessible and appealing to others. With things like Visual Studio Code, free Windows upgrades Microsoft is moving to an era where Windows is not a product but a service. The company is headed finally in the right direction , lets see how far it goes.

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  • Anoop Kumar
    Anoop Kumar

    @anoop-kumar-GDGRCn • May 26, 2015

    Google Now understands me almost 95% while British people can understand only about 70% 😁.

    But, for the record Google now was also not good earlier. It improved a lot.
    I am not sure if Cortana will able to reach out to Google now. Simple reagion is Android and search engine dominance of google.
    Microsoft dominate PC but using speech engine😨

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