It’s no secret that Microsoft has been actively supporting development of apps for iPhone and Android, but this is big: the company announced today that the Cortana digital assistant will be available for iPhone and Android smartphones later this year.
Cortana is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri and Google Now, providing contextually-aware reminders, routing and mapping, sports scores, biographies, traffic and weather conditions, and more. Cortana has been available since last April when it debuted on Windows Phone 8.1. The personal digital assistant is also slated to become part of Windows 10, due out this summer.
Microsoft is playing friendly with the two most popular smartphone platforms with the next version of Windows, with a new Phone Companion app built into Windows 10. The app helps smartphone owners to easily connect their Windows PC with iPhone and Android phones, as well as the company’s own Windows Phones. Here’s Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore gesticulating wildly and talking about how Windows 10 will work seamlessly with iPhone and Android:
