Tag: Microsoft Cortana

Microsoft has rolled out another update to Microsoft Cortana, their personal assistant app & service, for Android.  The update is version 2.9.10 for those keeping score at home and should be hitting devices with the Assistant installed over the course of the next few days.

There are several improvements in this update, the most visible of which is and enhanced upcoming view for better calendar and missed reminders management.  Now calendar events are more discretely listed in the Upcoming page which makes it easier to find upcoming events and reminders.  There is also a new “Here’s what I can do” card at the top of the Upcoming tab to help you with some of the commands that you can give to Cortana.

Smart Suggestions for tasks have also been improved in this update.  These include the ability to have a reminder added or an event added.

After several months of waiting, the new Harman Kardon Invoke smart speaker will be released this coming Sunday, October 22nd.  The speaker is powered by Microsoft Cortana and is the first dedicated Cortana smart speaker to hit the market.  It will be priced at $199 and will be available through a variety of retailers.

Microsoft Cortana has 148 million active users today and that number is expected to jump with Invoke.  The personal assistant, named after the personal assistant in the Halo franchise, has been a staple of Windows 10 since inception while the Android and iOS versions have been available for some time now.  In fact, on Android, you can make Cortana your default personal assistant.

Microsoft is in the process of rolling out a new integration between their personal assistant, Cortana, and the Skype messaging client.  The new integration essentially makes Cortana a chat-bot inside of Skype, allow it to give you suggestions for replies to messages, get weather and news information, as well as facts and other information.  In order for it to work, you have to give Cortana various permissions for Skype and since it is rolling out now, not everyone is seeing it just yet.

If this sounds familiar as an Android user, it should.  Essentially Microsoft is replicating what Google has done with Allo and Google Assistant which, for Windows 10 PC users and those who are heavily in the Microsoft ecosystem, this is great news.

A new and significant update to Microsoft Cortana for Android, Microsoft’s personal assistant for the platform, is now rolling out in the Google Play Store. The updated build is version 2.9.4 for those keeping score at home and brings handful of new features and improvements.

First, Microsoft has made it easier to sign in and to sign up to use Cortana in the app.  You can quickly sign up with your mobile number to get going in the app more quickly.  Second, you can now create a new list (think shopping list for example) and edit list items within the app.  This was a big miss for Windows 10 users as you had to create the list on your PC and then let it sync with Cortana.

Microsoft’s personal assistant, Microsoft Cortana, has a new update rolling out in the beta channel this morning.  The new beta build is version 2.9.3 and while it doesn’t bring new features, it does bring a lot of performance improvements and stability to the app.

The update outlines three key areas of focus in the release notes:

• Improved app performance
• Stabilized the app
• Fixed several crash bugs

While that isn’t overly exciting, the fact is that Microsoft has been working pretty hard on getting Cortana solid for Android.  Having tested out this new beta build this morning, I can say it is much faster than the current stable channel build and seems to be far more reliable.

Microsoft Cortana, the company’s personal assistant, has a major update rolling out for the Android version of the app.  Version 2.9 brings a major revamp of the user experience of the app, improved controls and settings and, frankly, is nearly an entirely new look and feel.

Microsoft has aimed the app to be much more streamlined with an emphasis on users being able to get to content more quickly.  Microsoft is referring to this as being more “hands-on” for things like reminders.  You can now, for example, pin your reminder to the top right corner of the page to make it easier to get to later.  You can also adjust contents, time, date and delete them from your reminders list.