Cortana (virtual assistant)

Last updated

Cortana
Developer(s) Microsoft
Initial releaseApril 2, 2014;10 years ago (2014-04-02) [1]
Stable release(s) [±]
Android3.3.3.2753-enus-release / November 29, 2019;5 years ago (2019-11-29) [2]
iOS3.3.3 / November 30, 2019;5 years ago (2019-11-30) [3]
Successor Microsoft Copilot
Available in
Type Intelligent personal assistant
License Proprietary
Website www.microsoft.com/en-us/cortana

Cortana was a virtual assistant developed by Microsoft that used the Bing search engine to perform tasks such as setting reminders and answering questions for users.

Contents

Cortana was available in English, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese language editions, depending on the software platform and region in which it was used. [8]

In 2019, Microsoft began reducing the prevalence of Cortana and converting it from an assistant into different software integrations. [9] It was split from the Windows 10 search bar in April 2019. [10] In January 2020, the Cortana mobile app was removed from certain markets, [11] [12] and on March 31, 2021, the Cortana mobile app was shut down globally. [13] On June 2, 2023, Microsoft announced that support for the Cortana standalone app on Microsoft Windows would end in late 2023 and would be replaced by Microsoft Copilot, an AI chatbot. [14] Support for Cortana in the Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft 365 mobile apps was discontinued in fall of 2023. [15]

History

Beginnings (2009–2014)

The development of Cortana started in 2009 in the Microsoft Speech products team with general manager Zig Serafin and Chief Scientist Larry Heck. Heck and Serafin established the vision, mission, and long-range plan for Microsoft's digital personal assistant and they built a team with the expertise to create the initial prototypes for Cortana. [16] Some of the key researchers in these early efforts included Microsoft Research researchers Dilek Hakkani-Tür, Gokhan Tur, Andreas Stolcke, and Malcolm Slaney, research software developer Madhu Chinthakunta, and user experience designer Lisa Stifelman. To develop the Cortana digital assistant, the team interviewed human personal assistants. The interviews inspired a number of unique features in Cortana, including the assistant's "notebook" feature. Originally, Cortana was meant to be only a codename, but a petition on Windows Phone's UserVoice site proved to be popular and made the codename official. [17] [18]

Cortana was demonstrated for the first time at the Microsoft Build developer conference in San Francisco in April 2014. [1] It was launched as a key ingredient of Microsoft's planned "makeover" of future operating systems for Windows Phone and Windows. [5]

It was named after Cortana, [19] a synthetic intelligence character in Microsoft's Halo video game franchise originating in Bungie folklore, [20] with Jen Taylor, the character's voice actress, returning to voice the personal assistant's US-specific version. [21]

Expansion (2015–2018)

Cortana white interface on Windows 10 Mobile Cortana White Interface.png
Cortana white interface on Windows 10 Mobile

In January 2015, Microsoft announced the availability of Cortana for Windows 10 desktops and mobile devices as part of merging Windows Phone into the operating system at large.

On May 26, 2015, Microsoft announced that Cortana would also be available on other mobile platforms. An Android release was set for July 2015, but the Android APK file containing Cortana was leaked ahead of its release. It was officially released, along with an iOS version, in December 2015. [22]

During E3 2015, Microsoft announced that Cortana would come to the Xbox One as part of a universally designed Windows 10 update for the console. [23]

Microsoft integrated Cortana into numerous products such as Microsoft Edge. [24] Microsoft's Cortana assistant was deeply integrated into the browser. Cortana was able to find opening hours when on restaurant sites, show retail coupons for websites, or show weather information in the address bar. At the Worldwide Partners Conference 2015 Microsoft demonstrated Cortana integration with products such as GigJam. [25] Conversely, Microsoft announced in late April 2016 that it would block anything other than Bing and Edge from being used to complete Cortana searches, again raising questions of anti-competitive practices by the company. [26]

Microsoft's "Windows in the car" concept included Cortana. The concept makes it possible for drivers to make restaurant reservations and see places before they go there. [27]

At Microsoft Build 2016, Microsoft announced plans to integrate Cortana into Skype (Microsoft's video-conferencing and instant messaging service) as a bot to allow users to order food, book trips, transcribe video messages and make calendar appointments through Cortana in addition to other bots. [28] As of 2016, Cortana was able to underline certain words and phrases in Skype conversations that relate to contacts and corporations. [29] A writer from Engadget has criticised the Cortana integration in Skype for responding only to very specific keywords, feeling as if she was "chatting with a search engine" due to the impersonal way the bots replied to certain words such as "Hello" causing the Bing Music bot to bring up Adele's song of that name. [30]

Microsoft also announced at Microsoft Build 2016 that Cortana would be able to cloud-synchronise notifications between Windows 10 Mobile's and Windows 10's Action Center, [31] [32] as well as notifications from Android devices. [33] [34]

In December 2016, Microsoft announced [35] the preview of Calendar.help, a service that enabled people to delegate the scheduling of meetings to Cortana. Users interact with Cortana by including her in email conversations. Cortana would then check people's availability in Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar, and work with others Cc'd on the email to schedule the meeting. The service relied on automation and human-based computation. [36] [37]

In May 2017, Microsoft announced INVOKE, a voice-activated speaker featuring Cortana, in collaboration with Harman Kardon. The premium speaker has a cylindrical design and offers 360-degree sound, the ability to make and receive calls with Skype, and all of the other features currently available with Cortana. [38]

In 2017, Microsoft partnered with Amazon to integrate Echo and Cortana with each other, allowing users of each smart assistant to summon the other via a command. [39] This feature preview was released in August 2018. Windows 10 users were able to just say "Hey Cortana, open Alexa" and Echo users were able to say "Alexa, open Cortana" to summon the other assistant. [40]

The Harman Kardon Invoke speaker, powered by Cortana Harman Kardon Invoke Speaker - aerial.jpg
The Harman Kardon Invoke speaker, powered by Cortana

Decreasing focus and discontinuation (2019–2024)

In January 2019, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that he no longer sees Cortana as a direct competitor against Alexa and Siri. [41]

Shortly thereafter, Microsoft began reducing the prevalence of Cortana and converting it from an assistant into different software integrations. [42] It was split from the Windows 10 search bar in April 2019. [43]

In January 2020, the Cortana mobile app was removed from certain markets, [11] [12] and then, on July 24, 2020, Cortana was removed from the Xbox dashboard as part of a redesign. [44] On January 31, 2021, Microsoft removed the Cortana mobile application in many markets, including the UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico, China, Spain, Canada, and India. [11] [12]

On March 31, 2021, Microsoft shut down the Cortana apps globally for iOS and Android and removed the apps entirely from their corresponding app stores. To access previously recorded content, users had to use Cortana on Windows 10 or other specialized Microsoft applications. [13]

Microsoft also reduced emphasis on Cortana in Windows with the 2021 release of Windows 11. Cortana was not used during the device setup process or pinned to the taskbar by default. [45] [46]

On June 2, 2023, Microsoft announced the Cortana standalone app on Windows 10 and Windows 11 which would shut down later in the year. [47] In its support article, Microsoft listed several alternatives, most of which have since been rebranded as Microsoft Copilot. They also added that the change would not impact Cortana in Office 365 and Teams environments. [48] [15] [49]

On August 11, 2023, Microsoft updated the Cortana standalone app in Windows, informing that it was deprecated and can no longer be used. Microsoft's support article announcing the deprecation of Cortana was updated to reflect this change. Along with the deprecation of the standalone app, it was announced that Cortana support in Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams displays, and Teams rooms would end in late 2023. The support article states that Cortana in the “Play my emails” feature of the Microsoft Outlook mobile app would continue to be available.

Later in June 2024, the support article was updated, stating that Cortana in the voice search and the "Play my emails" feature is now removed from the Microsoft Outlook mobile app, officially marking the discontinuation of Cortana across all Microsoft products.

On May 22, 2024, Microsoft announced the Windows 24H2 update, which removed Cortana, Tips, and WordPad from systems. [50] [51]

Functionality

Cortana was able to set reminders, recognize natural voice without the requirement for keyboard input, and answer questions using information from the Bing search engine. [52] [53] [54] Searches using Windows 10 are made only with the Microsoft Bing search engine, and all links will open with Microsoft Edge, [55] except when a screen reader such as Narrator was being used, where the links will open in Internet Explorer. Windows Phone 8.1's universal Bing SmartSearch features were incorporated into Cortana, which replaced the previous Bing Search app, which was activated when a user presses the "Search" button on their device. [56] Cortana includes a music recognition service. [57] Cortana was able to simulate rolling dice and flipping a coin. [58] Cortana's "Concert Watch" monitored Bing searches to determine the bands or musicians that interest the user. [59] It integrates with the Microsoft Band watch band for Windows Phone devices if connected via Bluetooth, [60] [61] it was able to make reminders and phone notifications. [62]

Since the Lumia Denim mobile phone series, launched in October 2014, active listening was added to Cortana enabling it to be invoked with the phrase: "Hey Cortana". It was able to then be controlled as usual. [63] Some devices from the United Kingdom by O2 received the Lumia Denim update without the feature, but this was later clarified as a bug and Microsoft has since fixed it. [64]

Cortana integrated with services such as Foursquare to provide restaurant and local attraction recommendations and LIFX to control smart light bulbs. [65] [66] [67]

Notebook

Cortana stored personal information such as interests, location data, reminders, and contacts in the "Notebook". It was able to draw upon and add to this data to learn a user's specific patterns and behaviors. Users were able to view and specify what information was collected to allow some control over privacy, said to be "a level of control that goes beyond comparable assistants". [68] Users were able to delete information from the "Notebook". [69]

Reminders

Cortana had a built-in system of reminders, which were able to, for example, be associated with a specific contact; Cortana would then remind a user when in communication with that contact, possibly at a specific time or when the phone was in a specific location. [70] Originally, these reminders were specific to the device Cortana was installed on but starting on February 12, 2015, Cortana synchronized reminders across devices. [71]

Design

Most versions of Cortana took the form of two nested circles, [72] which were animated to indicate activities such as searching or talking. The main color scheme would include a black or white background and shades of blue for the respective circles. [73]

Phone notification syncing

Cortana on Windows mobile and Android were capable of capturing device notifications and sending them to a Windows 10 device. This allowed a computer user to view notifications from their phone in the Windows 10 Action Center. The feature was announced in early 2016 and released later in the year. [74]

Miscellaneous

Cortana had a "do-not-disturb" mode in which users were able to specify "quiet hours", as was available for Windows Phone 8.1 users. [75] Users were able to change the settings so that Cortana calls users by their names or nicknames. [69] It also had a library of "Easter Eggs", pre-determined remarks. [76] [77]

When asked for a prediction, Cortana correctly predicted the winners of the first 14 matches of the football 2014 FIFA World Cup knockout stage, including the semi-finals, before it incorrectly picked Brazil over the Netherlands in the third place play-off match; this streak topped Paul the Octopus who correctly predicted all 7 of Germany's 2010 FIFA World Cup matches as well as the Final. [78] [79] [80] [81] Cortana was able to forecast results in various other sports such as the NBA, the NFL, [82] the Super Bowl, [83] the ICC Cricket World Cup [84] and various European football leagues. Cortana was able to solve mathematical equations, convert units of measurement, and determine the exchange rates between currencies including Bitcoin. [85]

Integrations

Microsoft integrated Cortana into numerous products such as Microsoft Edge. [24] Microsoft's Cortana assistant was deeply integrated into the browser. Cortana was able to find opening hours when on restaurant sites, show retail coupons for websites, or show weather information in the address bar. At the Worldwide Partners Conference 2015 Microsoft demonstrated Cortana integration with products such as GigJam. [25] Conversely, Microsoft announced in late April 2016 that it would block anything other than Bing and Edge from being used to complete Cortana searches, again raising questions of anti-competitive practices by the company. [86]

Microsoft's "Windows in the car" concept included Cortana. The concept makes it possible for drivers to make restaurant reservations and see places before they go there. [27]

Cortana was able to integrate with third-party apps on Windows 10 or directly through the service. Starting in late 2016, Cortana integrated with Microsoft's Wunderlist service, allowing Cortana to add and act on reminders. [87]

At Microsoft's Build 2017 conference, Microsoft announced that Cortana would get a consumer third-party skills capability, similar to that in Amazon Alexa. [88]

On February 16, 2018, Microsoft announced connected home skills were added for Ecobee, Honeywell Lyric, Honeywell Total Connect Comfort, LIFX, TP-Link Kasa, and Geeni, as well as support for IFTTT. [89] At Microsoft's Ignite 2018 conference, Microsoft announced an Technology Adopters Program that Enterprises could build skills that could be developed and deployed into Azure tenants, accessible by organizational units or security groups. [90]

Privacy concerns

Cortana indexed and stored user information. Cortana could be disabled; this would cause Windows search to search Bing as well as the local computer, but that could also be disabled. Turning Cortana off did not in itself delete user data stored on Microsoft's servers, but data was able to be deleted by user action. [91] Microsoft was further criticized for requests to Bing's website for a file called "threshold.appcache", which contained Cortana's information through searches made through the Start Menu, even when Cortana was disabled on Windows 10. [92] [93]

As of April 2014, Cortana was disabled for users aged under 13 years. [94]

Regions and languages

The Chinese version of Cortana, Xiao Na WP Cortana China.png
The Chinese version of Cortana, Xiao Na

The British version of Cortana spoke with a British accent and used British idioms, while the Chinese version, known as Xiao Na, spoke Mandarin Chinese and had an icon featuring a face and two eyes, which was not used in other regions. [95]

As of 2020 the English version of Cortana on Windows devices was available to all users in the United States (American English), Canada (French/English), Australia, India, and the United Kingdom (British English). Other language versions of Cortana are available in France (French), China (Simplified Chinese), Japan (Japanese), Germany (German), Italy (Italian), Brazil (Portuguese), Mexico, and Spain (Spanish). Cortana listens generally to the hot word "Hey Cortana" in addition to certain languages' customized versions, such as "Hola Cortana" in Spanish. [96]

The English United Kingdom localized version of Cortana was voiced by voice actress Ginnie Watson, [97] while the United States localised version was voiced by Jen Taylor. Taylor was the voice actress who voices Cortana, the namesake of the virtual assistant, in the Halo video game series. [98]

The following table identifies the former localized version of Cortana. Except where indicated, this applied to both Windows Mobile and Windows 10 versions of the assistant.

Language [99] Region [99] VariantStatus [99] Platforms
English Flag of the United States.svg United States American English Available Windows, Android, iOS
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom [100] British English Available Windows, Android [101]
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada [102] Canadian English Available Windows, Android, iOS [103]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Australian English Available Windows, Android, iOS
Flag of India.svg India Indian English Available [104] Windows
French Flag of France.svg France French French Available Windows, Android, iOS
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Canadian French Available Windows, Android, iOS
German Flag of Germany.svg Germany [105] Standard German Available Windows
Italian Flag of Italy.svg Italy Standard Italian Available [106] Windows
Spanish Flag of Spain.svg Spain [107] Peninsular Spanish Available Windows
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico Mexican Spanish Available Windows
Traditional Chinese Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan Taiwanese Mandarin Not Available
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong Cantonese Not Available
Flag of Macau.svg Macau Cantonese Not Available
Simplified Chinese Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China Mandarin Chinese Available Windows, Android, iOS
Portuguese Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil Brazilian Portuguese Available Windows
Japanese Flag of Japan.svg Japan Standard Japanese Available Windows, iOS
Russian Flag of Russia.svg Russia Standard Russian Not Available Windows, [102] iOS [108]

Technology

The natural language processing capabilities of Cortana were derived from Tellme Networks (bought by Microsoft in 2007) and were coupled with a Semantic search database called Satori. [109]

While many of Cortana's U.S. English responses were voiced by Jen Taylor, organic responses required the use of a text-to-speech engine. Microsoft Eva was the name of the text-to-speech voice for organic response in Cortana's U.S. English. [110] [111]

Updates

Cortana updates were delivered independently of those to the main Windows Phone OS, [112] allowing Microsoft to provide new features at a faster pace. [113] Not all Cortana-related features could be updated in this manner, as some features such as "Hey Cortana" required the Windows Phone update service and the Qualcomm Snapdragon SensorCore Technology. [114]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSN</span> Collection of Internet sites

MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skype</span> Telecommunications software service/application

Skype is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debit-based calls to landline and mobile telephones, and other features. It is available on various desktop, mobile, and video game console platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bing Mobile</span> Web search for mobile devices

Bing for mobile is a search tool for handheld mobile devices from Microsoft as part of their Bing search engine. It is designed for mobile device displays. Bing Mobile is built into Windows Mobile and Windows Phone as proprietary software, accessed via the Search key on Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 devices. It is also available on Windows Phone 8.1, and can be downloaded for other platforms, including and Android.

Microsoft engineering groups are the operating divisions of Microsoft. Starting in April 2002, Microsoft organised itself into seven groups, each an independent financial entity. In September 2005, Microsoft announced a reorganization of its then seven groups into three. In July 2013, Microsoft announced another reorganization into five engineering groups and six corporate affairs groups. A year later, in June 2015, Microsoft reformed into three engineering groups. In September 2016, a new group was created to focus on artificial intelligence and research. On March 29, 2018, a new structure merged all of these into three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Phone</span> Family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft

Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design language. Unlike Windows Mobile, it was primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market.

The Android Package with the file extension apk is the file format used by the Android operating system, and a number of other Android-based operating systems for distribution and installation of mobile apps, mobile games and middleware. A file using this format can be built from source code written in either Java or Kotlin.

This page provides details for the version history of the Microsoft's Windows Phone branded mobile operating systems, from the release of Windows Phone 7 in October 2010, which was preceded by Windows Mobile version 6.x.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Lumia</span> Discontinued line of mobile devices by Microsoft

Microsoft Lumia is a discontinued line of mobile devices that was originally designed and marketed by Nokia and later by Microsoft Mobile. Introduced in November 2011, the line was the result of a long-term partnership between Nokia and Microsoft—as such, Lumia smartphones run on Microsoft software, the Windows Phone operating system; and later the newer Windows 10 Mobile. The Lumia name is derived from the partitive plural form of the Finnish word lumi, meaning "snow".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Now</span> Intelligent personal assistant

Google Now was a feature of Google Search of the Google app for Android and iOS. Google Now proactively delivered information to users to predict information they might need in the form of informational cards. Google Now branding is no longer used, but the functionality continues in the Google app and its discover tab.

Microsoft mobile services are a set of proprietary mobile services created specifically for mobile devices; they are typically offered through mobile applications and mobile browser for Windows Phone platforms, BREW, and Java. Microsoft's mobile services are typically connected with a Microsoft account and often come preinstalled on Microsoft's own mobile operating systems while they are offered via various means for other platforms. Microsoft started to develop for mobile computing platforms with the launch of Windows CE in 1996 and later added Microsoft's Pocket Office suite to their Handheld PC line of PDAs in April 2000. From December 2014 to June 2015, Microsoft made a number of corporate acquisitions, buying several of the top applications listed in Google Play and the App Store including Acompli, Sunrise Calendar, Datazen, Wunderlist, Echo Notification Lockscreen, and MileIQ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Build</span> Annual conference event held by Microsoft

Microsoft Build is an annual conference event held by Microsoft, aimed at software engineers and web developers using Windows, Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft technologies. First held in 2011, it serves as a successor for Microsoft's previous developer events, the Professional Developers Conference and MIX. The attendee price was (US)$2,195 in 2016, up from $2,095 in 2015. It sold out quickly, within one minute of the registration site opening in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Phone 8.1</span> Third generation of Microsofts Windows Phone mobile operating system

Windows Phone 8.1 is the third generation of Microsoft Mobile's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8. Rolled out at Microsoft's Build Conference in San Francisco, California on April 2, 2014, it was released in final form to Windows Phone developers on April 14, 2014 and reached general availability on August 4, 2014. All Windows Phones running Windows Phone 8 can be upgraded to Windows Phone 8.1, with release dependent on carrier rollout dates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunrise Calendar</span> Discontinued calendar application

Sunrise is a discontinued electronic calendar application for mobile and desktop. The service was launched in 2013 by designers Pierre Valade and Jeremy Le Van. In October 2015, Microsoft announced that they had merged the Sunrise Calendar team into the larger Microsoft Outlook team where they will work closely with the Microsoft Outlook Mobile service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows 10 Mobile</span> Mobile operating system developed by Microsoft

Windows 10 Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile. First released in 2015, it is the successor to Windows Phone 8.1, but was marketed by Microsoft as being an edition of its PC operating system Windows 10.

Windows 10 introduced a number of new elements, including the option to use a touch-optimized interface or a traditional desktop interface similar to that of Windows 7 along with live tiles from Windows 8. However, unlike previous versions of Windows, where most, if not all, major features for that release were completed by its RTM, Windows 10 continues to receive major features and changes beyond its initial release to market. Microsoft describes Windows 10 as an "operating system as a service" that will receive ongoing updates to its features and functionality. This is supplemented with the ability for enterprise environments to receive non-critical updates at a slower pace, and to use long-term support milestones that will only receive critical updates, such as security patches, over their ten-year lifespan of support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action Center</span> Microsoft Windows application

Action Center is a notification center included with Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. It was introduced with Windows Phone 8.1 in July 2014, and was introduced to the desktop with the launch of Windows 10 on July 29, 2015.

Windows 10 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. Microsoft described Windows 10 as an "operating system as a service" that would receive ongoing updates to its features and functionality, augmented with the ability for enterprise environments to receive non-critical updates at a slower pace or use long-term support milestones that will only receive critical updates, such as security patches, over their five-year lifespan of mainstream support. It was released in July 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phone Companion</span> Discontinued Windows 10 app

Phone Companion is a discontinued app advertising and file transfer utility included with Windows 10 and available for Windows 10 Mobile. It provided a partial list of Microsoft apps that are available on Android, and Windows 10 Mobile. In order to use the Phone Companion, users had to sign in with a Microsoft Account, which would sync installation progress across devices. It was replaced by the Phone Link app in the October 2018 Update, but can still be accessed on prior versions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invoke (smart speaker)</span> Cortana-powered smart speaker by Harman Kardon

Invoke was a smart speaker developed by Harman Kardon. It was powered by Microsoft's intelligent personal assistant, Cortana. Voice interaction with Cortana provides features such as setting alarms, facts, searches, weather, news, traffic, flights, and other real-time information. Additionally, the speaker's Cortana integration with one's Microsoft Account enabled calendars, reminders, commutes, to-do lists, and home automation features, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft 365</span> Subscription services offered by Microsoft

Microsoft 365 is a product family of productivity software, collaboration and cloud-based services owned by Microsoft. It encompasses online services such as Outlook.com, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, programs formerly marketed under the name Microsoft Office, enterprise products and services associated with these products such as Exchange Server, SharePoint, and Viva Engage. Microsoft 365 also covers subscription plans encompassing these products, including those that include subscription-based licenses to desktop and mobile software, and hosted email and intranet services.

References

  1. 1 2 Levy, Karyne (April 2, 2014). "Microsoft Has Its Own Version Of Siri, A Voice Assistant Called 'Cortana'".
  2. ↑ Microsoft Corporation. "Cortana". Play Store. Google. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ Microsoft Corporation. "Cortana". App Store. Apple. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Cortana – Digital assistant". APKMirror. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Foley, Mary Jo (March 4, 2014). "Microsoft's 'Cortana' alternative to Siri makes a video debut". ZDNet.
  6. ↑ Risley, James (March 30, 2016). "Microsoft introduces Cortana-powered chatbot for Skype, opening up framework to developers". Geek Wire.
  7. ↑ Warren, Tom (May 7, 2018). "Microsoft demonstrates Alexa and Cortana integration" . Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Cortana's regions and languages". Microsoft. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  9. ↑ Bowden, Zac (November 5, 2019). "Microsoft to remove Cortana from Microsoft Launcher on Android".
  10. ↑ Lopez, Napier (January 17, 2019). "Windows 10's search bar and Cortana split up on good terms" . Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 Warren, Tom (November 16, 2019). "Microsoft is killing off its Cortana app for iOS and Android in January" . Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 "Microsoft's killing the Cortana app in most markets next year". thenextweb. November 19, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  13. 1 2 Warren, Tom (April 1, 2021). "Microsoft shuts down Cortana on iOS and Android". The Verge. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Microsoft is killing Cortana on Windows starting late 2023". BleepingComputer. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "End of support for Cortana - Microsoft Support". support.microsoft.com. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  16. ↑ Microsoft Research (April 17, 2014). "Anticipating More from Cortana". Microsoft Research blogs. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  17. ↑ Warren, Tom (April 2, 2014). "The story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri killer". The Verge.
  18. ↑ "Cortana: a digital assistant with personality and smarts". community.windows.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  19. ↑ Julianne Pepitone (April 3, 2014). "Why Microsoft Named Its Siri Rival 'Cortana' After a 'Halo' Character". NBC News.
  20. ↑ "Marathon's Story... Facts and puzzling things about... Cortana". bungie.org.
  21. ↑ Blair, Nancy (April 3, 2014). "Who is Cortana? It's Halo's Jen Taylor". USA Today .
  22. ↑ Sawers, Paul (May 26, 2015). "Microsoft announces Phone Companion app for Windows 10 and teases Cortana for Android and iOS". VentureBeat.
  23. ↑ Warren, Tom (June 15, 2015). "Xbox One dashboard update includes a huge new design and Cortana". The Verge.
  24. 1 2 Hachman, Mark (May 5, 2015). "Microsoft's Edge web browser roadmap includes more Cortana scenarios, extensions". PC World.
  25. 1 2 Rama, Gladys (July 13, 2015). "Microsoft Debuts 'Project GigJam' at WPC 2015". PC Magazine.
  26. ↑ "Microsoft locks down Cortana: Blocks integration with other browsers, search engines".
  27. 1 2 Warren, Tom (September 16, 2015). "Microsoft experimenting with Cortana in your car". The Verge. It's clear that Microsoft's car efforts have progressed over the past year, but the company still isn't ready to launch its own Windows 10 integration.
  28. ↑ Hernandez, Pedro (March 31, 2016). "Microsoft Previews a Smarter Skype With Bots, Cortana Integration". eWeek . Archived from the original on July 2, 2016.
  29. ↑ de Looper, Christian (March 30, 2016). "Skype now has the smarts to book your trip, order pizza, and more with Cortana". Yahoo! Finance.
  30. ↑ Lee, Nicole (March 30, 2016). "Chatting with Skype bots feels like talking to a search engine". Engadget (AOL).
  31. ↑ Surur, Suril (April 2, 2016). "Cortana is now 2 years old". MSPowerUser.
  32. ↑ Torres, JC (April 1, 2016). "Cloud-based Windows 10 Action Center will also be on Android". SlashGear.
  33. ↑ Chavez, Chris (April 1, 2016). "Windows 10 Anniversary Update not only mirrors Android notifications, but lets you interact with them too [VIDEO]". Phandroid.
  34. ↑ Amadeo, Ron (April 2, 2016). "The Windows 10 Anniversary Update can mirror Android notifications. Get Android notifications on your desktop. The catch: You have to install Cortana". Ars Technica .
  35. ↑ "Enroll in the Calendar.help preview and let Cortana schedule your meetings - Office Blogs". Office Blogs. December 13, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  36. ↑ "How We Built a Virtual Scheduling Assistant at Microsoft". Harvard Business Review. July 28, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  37. ↑ Cranshaw, Justin; Elwany, Emad; Newman, Todd; Kocielnik, Rafal; Yu, Bowen; Soni, Sandeep; Teevan, Jaime; Monroy-Hernández, Andrés (May 2, 2017). "Calendar.help: Designing a Workflow-Based Scheduling Agent with Humans in the Loop". Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM. pp. 2382–2393. doi:10.1145/3025453.3025780. ISBN   9781450346559. S2CID   10131409.
  38. ↑ Sams, Brad (May 7, 2017). "Harman Kardon's Cortana Speaker Revealed". Thurrott. BWW Media Group. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
  39. ↑ Warren, Tom (August 30, 2017). "Microsoft and Amazon partner to integrate Alexa and Cortana digital assistants". The Verge. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  40. ↑ Warren, Tom (August 15, 2018). "Microsoft and Amazon release preview of Cortana and Alexa integration". The Verge. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  41. ↑ Warren, Tom (January 18, 2019). "Microsoft no longer sees Cortana as an Alexa or Google Assistant competitor". The Verge. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  42. ↑ Bowden, Zac (November 5, 2019). "Microsoft to remove Cortana from Microsoft Launcher on Android".
  43. ↑ Lopez, Napier (January 17, 2019). "Windows 10's search bar and Cortana split up on good terms" . Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  44. ↑ Warren, Tom (July 24, 2019). "Microsoft will drop Cortana from Xbox One as part of another dashboard redesign". The Verge. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  45. ↑ Chin, Monica (June 24, 2021). "Microsoft kicks Cortana out of the boot experience for Windows 11". The Verge . Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021. Cortana will no longer be included in the first boot experience or pinned to the Taskbar.
  46. ↑ "Windows 11 Specifications". Windows. July 2, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021. Cortana will no longer be included in the first boot experience or pinned to the Taskbar.
  47. ↑ Paoli, Chris. "Microsoft To Kill Cortana in Windows -- Redmondmag.com". Redmondmag. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  48. ↑ Zac Bowden (June 2, 2023). "Microsoft is killing Cortana on Windows 11 and Windows 10 later this year". Windows Central. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  49. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew (August 4, 2023). "Cortana, once a flagship feature of Windows phones, is slowly being shut down". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  50. ↑ Blog, Windows Insider; Team, Windows Insider Program (May 22, 2024). "Releasing Windows 11, version 24H2 to the Release Preview Channel". Windows Insider Blog. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  51. ↑ "Microsoft: Windows 24H2 will remove Cortana and WordPad apps". BleepingComputer. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  52. ↑ Microsoft. "My interests and Cortana". Windows Phone. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  53. ↑ Microsoft. "Remind me, Cortana". Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  54. ↑ Warren, Tom (April 2, 2014). "The story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri killer". The Verge. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  55. ↑ "Microsoft limits the Cortana search box in Windows 10 to Bing and Edge only". April 28, 2016.
  56. ↑ Edmonds, Rich (February 11, 2014). "Developers leak Windows Phone 8.1 SDK, reveal new features". Windows Phone Central. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  57. ↑ Burgess, Brian (April 19, 2014). "Use Cortana on Windows Phone 8.1 to Identify Songs". GroovyPost .
  58. ↑ Popa, Bogdan (October 6, 2014). "New Cortana Features on Windows Phone: Flip a Coin and Roll Some Dice". Softpedia .
  59. ↑ Smith, Emily (October 17, 2014). "Cortana will be more like Google Now". LOAD THE GAME.
  60. ↑ Kniskern, Kip (October 29, 2014). "Microsoft Band: cross platform, yet Better Together with Windows Phone (and Cortana)". Liveside.net.
  61. ↑ none, Ron (October 30, 2014). "Say hello to Microsoft Band, a $199 fitness band that keeps you fit and lets you check emails and texts too". WinBeta.
  62. ↑ Burlacu, Alexandra (October 30, 2014). "Microsoft Band fitness tracker with Cortana debuts alongside Microsoft Health service: Here's the deal (VIDEO)". Mobile & Apps.
  63. ↑ Rubino, Daniel (January 12, 2015). "Hands on with 'Hey Cortana' and the Lumia 930 Denim update". Windows Central.
  64. ↑ Nirave (February 3, 2015). "O2 Lumia 930 Denim update lands without "Hey Cortana" [Updated]". Fonearena.
  65. ↑ Newman, Jared (July 29, 2014). "Windows Phone's Cortana taps Foursquare to suggest nearby places of interest". PCWorld.
  66. ↑ Crist, Ry (October 15, 2015). "The new Lifx Windows 10 app lets Cortana toggle your lights". CNET.
  67. ↑ "Cortana now taps into Foursquare to give you recommendations for lunch". engadget.com. July 29, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  68. ↑ Hachman, Mark (February 21, 2014). "Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant guards user privacy with 'Notebook'". PCWorld. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  69. 1 2 Warren, Tom (March 3, 2014). "This is Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Siri". The Verge. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  70. ↑ Guim, Mark (April 26, 2014). "How to set a person-based reminder with Cortana". Windows Central (Mobile Nations).
  71. ↑ Sams, Brad (February 13, 2015). "Windows 10: Cortana now syncs reminders". Neowin .
  72. ↑ Kleiman, Jacob (March 3, 2014). "Windows Phone Cortana Mobile Assistant Detailed in New Leak". TechnoBuffalo. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  73. ↑ kbridge. "Cortana design guidelines - Cortana UWP design and development". docs.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  74. ↑ "Cortana Can Now Sync Notifications From Your Android Phone To Your Windows 10 PC - Thurrott.com". Thurrott.com. May 19, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  75. ↑ Sabri, Sam (April 15, 2014). "How to set up Quiet Hours and Inner Circles on Windows Phone 8.1". Windows Phone Central. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  76. ↑ Warren, Tom (April 15, 2014). "Clippy replaces Cortana in Windows Phone 8.1 Easter egg". The Verge. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  77. ↑ Kessler, Derek (April 15, 2014). "Cortana Easter Egg resurrects Clippy as your personal digital assistant". Windows Phone Central. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  78. ↑ "Cortana's unbroken streak ends with Netherlands 3:0 win over Brazil". WMPoweruser.com. July 12, 2014. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  79. ↑ Backaitis, Virginia (July 11, 2014). "Why Microsoft's Cortana is 14 for 14 Calling World Cup Matches". CMSWire.com. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  80. ↑ Akash KJ (July 10, 2014). "Germany Will Beat Argentina to Win FIFA World Cup 2014 Final Predicts Cortana". International Business Times . Archived from the original on July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  81. ↑ Wint, Bradley (July 9, 2014). "Cortana maintains winning streak, correctly predicting 14 games in a row". KontentPort.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  82. ↑ Manfred, Tony (January 28, 2015). "The Microsoft Engine That Nailed The World Cup Is Predicting Every NFL Game – Here's Its Pick for the Super Bowl". Business Insider.
  83. ↑ Curdie, Lewis (February 2, 2015). "Super Bowl winner correctly predicted by Windows Phone Cortana". Mobot. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  84. ↑ Allison, Michael (February 8, 2015). "Bing now predicts ICC Cricket World cup". WMPowerUser. Archived from the original on July 10, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  85. ↑ Sieber, Tina (January 28, 2015). "Here's how to make the most of Cortana, the Windows 10 digital assistant". Digital Trends. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  86. ↑ "Microsoft locks down Cortana: Blocks integration with other browsers, search engines".
  87. ↑ "Hey Cortana..." Wunderlist Blog. November 17, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  88. ↑ "Microsoft takes aim at Alexa with Cortana Skills Kit". Engadget. May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  89. ↑ "Windows Blog". Windows Blog. February 16, 2018.
  90. ↑ "Microsoft tries again to win developers with new Cortana Enterprise SKills Kit". ZDNet. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  91. ↑ Brad Chacos (July 30, 2015). "How to disable Cortana in Windows 10". Pcworld.com. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  92. ↑ Bright, Peter (August 13, 2015). "Even when told not to, Windows 10 just can't stop talking to Microsoft. It's no wonder that privacy activists are up in arms". Ars Technica UK.
  93. ↑ Smith, Chris (August 13, 2015). "Windows 10 might be spying on you even after you tell it to stop". Boy Genius Report.
  94. ↑ Nichols, Shaun (April 25, 2014). "Microsoft's naughty Cortana NOT ALLOWED NEAR CHILDREN". The Register .
  95. ↑ "Windows Phone 8.1 Update brings Cortana to new markets + new features". Blogging Windows. Archived from the original on July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  96. ↑ "¿Qué es Cortana?- Microsoft Support". support.microsoft.com. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  97. ↑ Doe, John (February 19, 2015). "Which sex does a computer sound like?". London Sound Survey.
  98. ↑ Tosie, Anthony (April 2, 2014). "Halo actress Jen Taylor to voice Windows Phone's Cortana" . Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  99. 1 2 3 "Cortana's regions and languages" . Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  100. ↑ Novet, Jordan (June 25, 2014). "Cortana will land in China and the United Kingdom in the coming weeks". Venturebeat News.
  101. ↑ Warren, Tom (December 8, 2016). "Cortana arrives in the UK on Android and iOS with an overhauled design". The Verge. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  102. 1 2 Duckett, Chris (November 13, 2015). "Hobbled Cortana arrives in Canada, Australia, Japan, and India. As part of the latest update to Windows 10, Microsoft's digital assistant has arrived in a number of new geographies". ZDNet .
  103. ↑ "Microsoft's Cortana app adds support for Canada on iOS and Android". Onmsft. December 18, 2017.
  104. ↑ "Windows 10 update: Cortana now understands Indian accent". The Indian Express. November 13, 2015.
  105. ↑ Whitney, Lance (December 5, 2014). "Microsoft Cortana expands to French, Italian, German and Spanish". CNet.
  106. ↑ Surur (February 2, 2015). "Cortana's Italian improves". WMPowerUser. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  107. ↑ Hernandez, Pedro (December 5, 2014). "Cortana Goes Globetrotting in European Alpha". eWeek .
  108. ↑ Shanahan, Dave (March 4, 2016). "Cortana App for iOS now available in Japan". WinBeta.
  109. ↑ Gary Marshall (April 3, 2014). "Cortana: everything you need to know about Microsoft's Siri rival". TechRadar.
  110. ↑ "Create Cortana Audio Files From Text Using PowerShell". thinkpowershell.com. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  111. ↑ "text to speech - How to enable Microsoft Eva (Cortana's voice) on Windows 10?". Super User. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  112. ↑ Lee, Tyler (July 21, 2014). "Cortana Will Enable Itself Automatically, No Action Required". Ubergizmo.
  113. ↑ Ali, Fahad (October 6, 2014). "CORTANA CAN NOW ROLL SOME DICE, FLIP A COIN". Eye on Windows. Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  114. ↑ Tofel, Kevin C. (December 18, 2014). "Lumia Denim update arrives, bringing Cortana and better pictures". Gigaom. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2015.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.