Microsoft has confirmed the Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana voice assistant is coming to the UK within weeks.
Previously, Microsoft has teased that Cortana would arrive in the UK “soon”, citing months rather than weeks as an approximate time scale.
The lead developer on the Cortana project, Marcus Ash, has confirmed that Cortana will be coming to the UK rather sooner than expecting as part of a Twitter conversation.
“Making Cortana available in the UK and China will happen very soon. Weeks not months”, said Ash in a tweet.
Cortana launched in the US in April alongside the new Windows Phone 8.1 operating system. The new voice assistant wasn’t ready to launch in the UK at that point though, as she was struggling to understand British accents.
If Cortana is coming within weeks to the UK, we could see her arrive in this country before the end of June, although Microsoft has obviously been careful not to provide exact dates just yet.
Ash also hinted that Microsoft is “actively talking about” bringing Cortana to other platforms, including Android and iOS.
However, before you get too excited about hearing Cortana’s dulcet tones on your iPhone, Mcirosoft isn’t making this a priority at this stage.
“Our top priority is to make Cortana great for Windows Phone customers. Get her out to more countries, continuing to push innovation”, said Ash.
“Real plan is about Cortana on Windows Phone. Make it so good that Windows Phone customers get everyone they know on Windows Phone.”
You can get Cortana on your Windows Phone 8.1 device with a few tweaks in the settings menu, if you want to experience her now.
However, she’s still very US centric, so your phone will have trouble understanding you until the UK version launches in the very near future.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
