Cortana

Which personal assistant app helps you get the job done best? Continue Reading →

There is nothing sweeter than pulling out your phone, asking it a question, and getting back the one obscure piece of information you need to settle a debate or win a drunken bet. Smartphones from Google, Apple, and Microsoft all offer a personal assistant who claims to be flush with knowledge drawn from around the Continue Reading →

Microsoft showed off a small number of Windows 10 features at the company’s event on Tuesday morning, but one rumored one was missing: Cortana. The software maker focused on some of its desktop improvements for Windows 10, and Cortana is one of the many changes that will be coming ahead of the final release next Continue Reading →

If you have Insteon gear set up in your home (a fair number of people do) and you also are toting a Microsoft handset (a smaller number) then you can control your home via voice command using Microsoft’s Cortana personal digital assistant. Since I’m a huge fan of voice control in the home, and we’re Continue Reading →

We’ve put Apple’s Siri through the wringer, and have given Google Now an all-access pass to our data, all the while documenting our experiences to offer you the best tips and tricks out there for intelligent assistant apps. Now it’s Cortana’s turn. Cortana is Microsoft’s virtual assistant for smartphones, specifically phones running Windows 8.1. She’s Continue Reading →

Microsoft on Wednesday updated Bing with a very interesting new feature that builds on its investments in entity and conversational understanding. In short, you can now ask follow-up questions that reference your previous question. For example, Microsoft says that after asking “who is the president of the united states” and getting back the answer “Barack Continue Reading →

Rumors have been circulating for a while that Microsoft is planning to incorporate its personal digital assistant, Cortana, into the next major version of Windows. On August 11, those rumors turned up a notch, with Neowin.net reporting that internal “dogfood” builds of “Threshold,” aka Windows 9, include Cortana integration. Windows Threshold is expected to arrive Continue Reading →

BlackBerry may be going down, but not without a fight. Aside from a unique, square-screened handset called the Passport due to launch in September the BlackBerry software is getting a personal assistant app of its own. The company highlighted its BlackBerry Assistant app, which is part of the forthcoming BlackBerry 10.3 software update, on its Continue Reading →

Microsoft is starting to distribute Windows Phone 8.1 to existing Lumia devices this week. The Lumia Cyan update provides the full Windows Phone 8.1 software, alongside some tweaks and customizations specifically for Lumia handsets. Windows Phone 8.1 includes a personal digital assistant in the form of Cortana, a number of new customization features for Live Continue Reading →

Nokia’s newest phone, the Lumia Icon, may be the most personalized phone I’ve ever touched. A lot of that personalized feel comes from Cortana, Microsoft’s new personal assistant. Cortana is brand new to Windows Phone 8.1 and, just like Siri, can answer questions like “What’s the temperature outside?” But Cortana learns from you in a Continue Reading →