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Microsoft is bringing Cortana to Android and iOS

By Ng Chong Seng - on 26 May 2015, 10:15pm

Microsoft is bringing Cortana to Android and iOS

The Phone Companion app on Windows 10 for the PC will help you connect your Windows PC to whatever phone you own. (Image source: Microsoft.)

Are you a Windows (PC) user who couldn’t give two hoots about Windows Mobile? Microsoft has just announced some ways to make your Android phone or iPhone work better with Windows 10 on the PC, and they’re all about apps.

First up is a built-in Phone Companion app on Windows 10 PCs that will walk you through the setting up of various Microsoft services on an Android phone or iPhone (it supports Windows phones too, of course). In short, after the setup (which involves other Microsoft apps like OneDrive, OneNote, Skype, Outlook, Office), all your files and content will be available on both your PC and your phone. For example, through OneDrive, photos you’ve taken with your phone will appear in the Photos app on your Windows 10 PC. For those keen to try it out before Windows 10 launches officially, the Phone Companion app will be in a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build that’s coming out in a few weeks’ time.

Microsoft is also bringing an updated Xbox Music app to Android and iPhone in late June or July. The biggest new feature is that it will enable free streaming playback of your music files and playlists that you’ve stored on OneDrive. (Microsoft is quick to point out that this feature already works on Windows phones.)

And finally, the company is bringing a Cortana app to Android phone and iPhone. Here’s how Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore describes this Cortana app:

You can have Cortana remind you to pick up milk the next time you’re at the grocery store, and then your phone will wake up and buzz with the reminder. You’ll be able to track a flight using Cortana on both your phone and your PC, and get the updates on the device that you’re on so you don’t miss anything. Everything in Cortana’s Notebook will show up across all your devices and any changes you make on one device will be reflected when you use Cortana on any of your other devices. The Cortana companion app will help you complete tasks you begin on your PC wherever you are, on your phone.

That said, since this is “just an app”, Cortana on Android and iPhone is unable to do some things that are possible on Windows phones, like toggling of settings, opening of apps, and hands-free “Hey Cortana” activation. The app will arrive first for Android at the end of June; the iPhone version will come later in the year.

Cortana is coming to Android and iOS. Hell freezes over.

Source: Microsoft.

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