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Microsoft Bringing Cortana To iOS, Android

Posted by Soulskill on from the new-ways-for-your-phone-to-yell-at-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes: While many big tech companies have their own personal assistant software these days, few of them are available on a broad variety of devices. Microsoft has now announced that it's becoming one of those few: Cortana will be available for iOS and Android devices later this year. It's part of an initiative by the company to ensure Windows 10 plays well with all sorts of devices, even phones made by the other major manufacturers. Microsoft said, "Regardless of the operating systems you choose across your devices – everything important to you should roam across the products you already own – including your phone." This led them to develop a "Phone Companion app," built into Windows 10, that's designed to help sync a user's PC with his phone.

11 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. It's actually surprising... by wardrich86 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    With the amount of potential information mining that could be done with these apps, I'm surprised they aren't all cross-platform.

    1. Re:It's actually surprising... by zoffdino · · Score: 5, Insightful

      With the amount of potential information mining that could be done with these apps, I'm surprised they aren't all cross-platform.

      NSA is cross-platform and very easy to use. You don't even need to sign up for it. Come free with every phone call.

    2. Re:It's actually surprising... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      Unfortunately, the procedure for data recovery is effectively impossible with that particular vendor. You probably need clearances you don't have to even get a straight answer about why your request is being refused.

    3. Re:It's actually surprising... by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No, this seems to be evolving into "Embrace... or die."

      The world is a very different place for Redmond, and if they want to hang on to any piece of the consumer market, they need to get their software on to all the major platforms.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    4. Re:It's actually surprising... by praxis · · Score: 2

      With the amount of potential information mining that could be done with these apps, I'm surprised they aren't all cross-platform.

      NSA is cross-platform and very easy to use. You don't even need to sign up for it. Come free with every phone call.

      It does not come free with every phone call; we're playing for it.

    5. Re:It's actually surprising... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      But, honestly ... if people wanted the Microsoft stuff, they'd have bought a Microsoft phone.

      I find myself thinking ... why the hell would I want Microsoft anything on an Android or iOS device?

      Is there a market of people tripping over themselves for this? Unless it was a corporate device and I had no choice, I see zero value in this for anybody who didn't buy a Microsoft product to begin with.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    6. Re:It's actually surprising... by Flavianoep · · Score: 2

      It does not come free with every phone call; we're playing for it.

      Only if you pay your taxes in the US. I haven't paid anything and I am not sure if I am not being tracked by the NSA.

      --
      Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
    7. Re:It's actually surprising... by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm not sure that logic plays through. Frankly, for Microsoft, the real problem is that damned few people really even consider Microsoft mobile products at all. They're a niche player, competing with BlackBerry for who will end up pushed right out of the market.

      Imagine you're Microsoft, you're faced with the possibility that you will never, even if you heavily subsidized a mobile Windows product line, be able to make any significant headway into the iOS-Android hegemony. What would you do? If it was me, I'd quietly admit that I'm never going to be able to dominate mobile platforms the way I do desktops and portable computers, and I'd leverage what I had by opening up my software to more platforms.

      This isn't even a revolutionary idea for Microsoft. They once owned their own *nix platform; Xenix. Windows NT itself was designed a hardware abstraction layer so it could be ported to multiple hardware platforms. But somewhere along the line Microsoft and the x86 computer manufacturers welded themselves together. I can't say it was a bad decision, as it made Microsoft and Intel absolute shitloads of money for a quarter century, but at the same time it seems to have frozen Microsoft in place. It became a one-trick pony, only able to envision itself in a world of Backoffice apps and OEM licensing. Now it's got to be nimble again, and as it has already effectively ceded a large portion of the computing products out there to Apple and Google, it's got to make the best it can with what it has.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    8. Re:It's actually surprising... by Dog-Cow · · Score: 2

      There are two parts to M$. The recognised M$ part... go, M$ styled management...

      What the fuck does a basic string variable have to do with anything?

      You are so absolutely stupid, it's a wonder you can even get out of bed. How many times do you bang into the wall before figuring out it's the wrong side?

  2. Today in euphemisms... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Everything important to you should roam across the products you already own"; by which we mean "please, do us the favor of selecting the consumer data most worth collecting about you and sending it to us".

  3. Re:Competition by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, considering that they also have Google's voice search on iOS, they'd have a hard time claiming that Microsoft's wasn't allowed.