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Cortana Can Now Replace Google Now On Android Devices
The Verge reports that Microsoft's Cortana can now be used (at least for beta testers) as a drop-in replacement for the Google Now assistant on Android devices; that means users can select launching Cortana as their default on-board assistant, and launch it by holding down the device's home key. However, notes the article, "The update version still doesn't include 'Hey Cortana' support, largely because of hardware limitations that prevent Cortana from always listening for the command."
No, Cortana is not available in Canada because Microsoft enjoys giving a massive middle finger to anyone who's not an American. Trust me. I have a Windows Phone and a Surface Pro 3. I couldn't be more in the "Microsoft Ecosystem" if I tried. But I'm not an American - I'm an Australian (and English is the language here). Despite Cortana being the selling point for WPh for years, they still don't have support for it in Australia (they recently offered "alpha" support on the phone only and it's missing most features) and you can't get Cortana on Windows 10, either. I routinely get emails from Microsoft about sales or deals in the "Windows Store" that only apply to Americans (so I can't get the discounts or free offers), despite the fact they can clearly see from the information they have on me that I am not an American. It's just one, never ending middle finger from them, and it's the #1 reason I doubt my next phone will be Windows based.
Maybe someone at Microsoft should look around the WPh sales and realise that the vast majority of Windows Phones in the world are actually not in the USA and start offering support to the people who actually did buy their products??
Considering Cortana is the #1 selling point - you think they'd put some effort into making it work for the 95.71% of the planet who doesn't live in America.
I would much rather have Google Now on my Windows 10 desktop instead of Cortana.
Me: Set a timer for 30 minutes
Cortana: Let me search the web for you...
Me: How far is New York City from here?
Cortana: I can't tell if you can get there by car
Microsoft has a lot of work to do before they can play with the big boys.
You don't know how right you are about this,
I can't use Cortana even if I wanted to, not even if I owned a Windows Phone device. See, I'm from Brazil, and Cortana doesn't understand Portuguese. It also refuses to work even it I switch my system language to English, because it's only enabled for US and UK. Compare that with Google Now language support.
It's kind of frightening actually how ahead Google is. That means that Google not only have a greater reach internationally, but means that they can extract information that Microsoft/BING doesn't have access to, since it's not limited to english. All this translates to better services, better local support, better AD targeting, and more dominance online.
---- You know how some doctors have the Messiah complex - they need to save the world? You've got the "Rubik's" complex