26 Facts About Microsoft Cortana

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

Microsoft Cortana is currently available in English, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese language editions, depending on the software platform and region in which it is used.

Microsoft began reducing the prevalence of Cortana and converting it from an assistant into different software integrations in 2019.

Cortana was demonstrated for the first time at the Microsoft Build developer conference in San Francisco in April 2014.

Originally, Microsoft 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.

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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.

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.

Microsoft Cortana is not used during the new device setup process and isn't pinned to the taskbar by default.

Microsoft's Cortana assistant is deeply integrated into its Edge browser.

Microsoft Cortana can 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.

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.

At Microsoft Build 2016, Microsoft announced plans to integrate Cortana into Skype 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.

Microsoft 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, as well as notifications from Android devices.

Microsoft Cortana can set reminders, recognize natural voice without the requirement for keyboard input, and answer questions using information from the Bing search engine .

Microsoft Cortana's "Concert Watch" monitors Bing searches to determine the bands or musicians that interest the user.

Microsoft Cortana has a built-in system of reminders, which can, for example, be associated with a specific contact; it will then remind the user when in communication with that contact, possibly at a specific time or when the phone is in a specific location.

Microsoft Cortana has a "do-not-disturb" mode in which users can specify "quiet hours", as was available for Windows Phone 8.

Microsoft Cortana can solve mathematical equations, convert units of measurement, and determine the exchange rates between currencies including Bitcoin.

Microsoft Cortana can integrate with third-party apps on Windows 10 or directly through the service.

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

Microsoft Cortana can be disabled; this will cause Windows search to search Bing as well as the local computer, but that can be disabled.

British version of Microsoft Cortana speaks with a British accent and uses British idioms, while the Chinese version, known as Xiao Na, speaks Mandarin Chinese and has an icon featuring a face and two eyes, which is not used in other regions.

English United Kingdom localised version of Microsoft Cortana is voiced by voice actress Ginnie Watson, while the United States localised version is voiced by Jen Taylor.

Natural language processing capabilities of Cortana are derived from Tellme Networks and are coupled with a Semantic search database called Satori.

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Not all Microsoft Cortana-related features could be updated in this manner, as some features such as "Hey Microsoft Cortana" required the Windows Phone update service and the Qualcomm Snapdragon SensorCore Technology.