In the realm of virtual personal assistants, Apple has Siri, Android has Google Now, and Microsoft has Cortana. The last of these is the newest, currently only part of the Windows 8.1 developer’s preview, however that hasn’t stopped it garnering quite a lot of attention in the press. As a big Xbox and Halo video game series fan, I find myself wishing Cortana, who features as a major character in the games, would be ported to Android. Which poses the tantalizing question: Could Cortana be on Android devices one day?
I definitely seems like a long shot given that neither Apple nor Google seem content to bother supporting other mobile platforms with their respective assistants, however Marcus Ash, a Windows Phone Group Program Manager has said some interesting things about their aspirations with Cortana:
“We want to scale Cortana internationally and across devices. The Android/iOS question is interesting. We’re asking, would Cortana be as effective if she didn’t have access to the details on your phone? We’re still trying to get Cortana adopted on Windows Phone and figure out what it wants to become there. But we’re actively talking about this.“
If that’s not a “maybe”, then I don’t know what is. Perhaps damningly for Cortana, the Microsoft assistant is hardwired into using Bing as its search database, which would always struggle competitively against Google Now and its Google repository. Having said that, I’d still love to see them try, and at least we know the possibility is there.
Would you want Cortana on your Android device? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: Search Engine Land via TalkAndroid
