Windows Phone 8.1 comes with a bunch of exciting new updates, not least Cortana, the Siri-like voice assistant. It was a shame when we learnt Cortana wouldn’t be launching in the UK just yet and would hit America first.
Cortana is what Microsoft is calling Windows Phone’s personal assistant in the vein of Google Now or Siri. It’s named after a character in the popular Xbox video game series, who serves as almost a personal assistant to the main character: Master Chief.
Microsoft wants Cortana to be a fully fledged personal assistant unlike Siri and Google Now, it will allegedly be able to learn your schedule, suggest ideas and notify you when you most need it. It’s currently in Beta in the US and will soon launch to all handsets, but wont be made available in the UK for quite some time yet.
So far the beta hasn’t begun in the UK. Now Windows Phone UK’s Twitter account sent out a message saying “soon”.
Soon. http://bit.ly/1nYHEdf
— Windows Phone UK (@WindowsPhoneUK) May 28, 2014
We already knew it was coming to the UK in time but Microsoft really isn’t ready to launch in the near future.
Know Your Mobile spoke to a Microsoft representative about Cortana and its release. The representative explained to us that Microsoft wants to ensure the language recognition is fully tailored to each market. This means taking account of all accents, cultural quirks and other factors.
The one example we were introduced to was how in the US public transport is entirely different to, say, the London Underground, with all our crazy British names for the stations and stuff. Microsoft wants to fully tailor the service to each country before it releases it, hence the extended Beta stages.
So even though the Windows Phone UK Twitter page claims "soon", we don’t expect to see it anytime in the very near future. It’ll probably be nearly 2015 before even the Beta launches in the UK. It’s a shame but if you really want to try out Cortana whilst living in the UK, you can get stuck into this.
by jamesp via Featured Articles
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