For a few good months, Microsoft is no longer acting as a ‘closed’ company, showing that it really cares for its users that are on other platforms. If you’ve been paying attention, you probably saw many new Android and iOS apps being released by Microsoft for its cross-platform users. However, the culminating point has been when the company announced that it is making Office free for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
If you ask me, this has been a brave move and one which makes the company ‘cool’ and puts it under the spotlight once more. And now, as Windows 10 is ahead the corner, there’s huge expectation that they will deliver a well-polished software and one that finally manages to unite the mobile and desktop worlds under a single package.
And now we have this great news, coming from Reuters – at some point in future, Cortana will be available for iOS and Android as a standalone app. As you know, Cortana is currently exclusive to Windows Phone devices, but it will come to Windows 10 for desktops this autumn, as well. Microsoft is now interested in bringing Cortana to Android and iOS devices, which, I believe, isn’t a move to draw them to Windows.
What I think Microsoft is doing is this – they realize they can do business in other ways. In other words, if they can’t convince iOS and Android users to switch to Windows devices, they will just create products and services for them. Before rolling out its voice assistant to Apple and Google users, Microsoft will be working on an advanced version of its voice assistant, allegedly incorporating research from an artificial intelligence project called Einstein.
By releasing Cortana to outside operating systems, Microsoft will be able to exponentially increase the number of those who use it. Thus, it will get more feedback and will thus be able to improve it at a faster than if it were to be limited only to Windows users. And, who knows, maybe it will beat Siri at its own game.
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