Cortana, for those unaware, is microsofts “Personal Assistant” for your windows phone and Windows 10 devices. Like Apples Siri, Cortana is a voice activated PA, her uses are many and hopefully she will soon be there to help you with all you word, excel and PowerPoint needs too.
Microsoft used to have a built in always present assistant on its older versions of office too, his name was Clippy. Clippy was a paper clip and Clippy was… not very good, actually that’s a dis-service to Clippy, he tried very hard but in the end used to tell you the same simple task repeatedly, get in the way and generally infuriate people. The paper clip has since become the butt of many a nerdy joke that even Microsoft picks on from time to time.
Cortana’s however has proved very popular across Windows 10 and the new Spartan browser at least with those who have already used it, so it makes sense I suppose to integrate this feature in as many places as possible. Besides Cortana is far more passive only there to answer your questions, not to suddenly appear every time you move your mouse and tell you that clicking the floppy symbol allows you to save your file.
This news is from The Verge’s Tom Warren who brings regular updates on all things Microsoft, so the information is probably solid. “The company is testing a “Work Assistant” app that will let people open, edit, and share content just with voice commands and Cortana.” Warren said.
One interesting concept is that bundling this inside Office may allow users on other platforms to use Cortana, for example using it via the Office apps on IOS or Android.
Tom Warren said this on the subject: “Given Microsoft’s recent launches of Office for iOS and Android, and a continued focus on making its services and apps available across all platforms, it shouldn’t be surprising that Cortana will eventually make the leap. Business Insider reported in November that Microsoft’s Julie Larson-Green confirmed Cortana will make its way to other operating systems, and Office integration is part of a number of plans for the digital assistant.”
Hopefully having a blue hologram give me advice will be less annoying than a Paperclip, she better sound like Jen Taylor…