Back in September, Microsoft and Amazon made a blockbuster announcement revealing that Cortana and Alexa will soon work together as part of a special integration between the two digital assistants. This integration was supposed to arrive in 2017 but the companies have missed the deadline.
The integration between Alexa and Cortana will bring the former to the Windows 10 operating system including Xbox consoles. On the other hand, Cortana will be available on all Echo and Alexa-powered device, though it’s still quite surprising to see Microsoft and Amazon agreeing to play nice.
“We’ll have more to share soon”, Microsoft spokesperson said when asked about Cortana and Alexa integration. “We’re working on it and expect to begin rolling it out soon,” Amazon spokesperson said.
The integration between the two digital assistants is a very good news for Microsoft and Cortana platform. “Ensuring Cortana is available for our customers everywhere and across any device is a key priority for us,” explained Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a blog post.
“The world is big and so multifaceted. There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas. Together, their strengths will complement each other and provide customers with a richer and even more helpful experience,” said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon
The integration brings Cortana’s knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments and reminders to Alexa. Cortana and Alexa will work together across all platforms, Windows 10 users will be able to access Alexa with “Hey Cortana, open Alexa” voice command, apparently, the collaboration between the two digital assistants will make everyone’s life a bit easier.
