14 DAY TRIAL // There is some good and bad news for Windows Phone 8.1 early adopters, as Microsoft seems to have started to roll out an update for Cortana.
The bad news is that there's no way to tell whether these changes will be rolled out to all Windows Phone 8.1 users or they will be available for a limited number of users for testing reasons.
In fact, they could also be pulled by Microsoft at any time. Cortana has been confirmed to receive updates from Microsoft twice a month, but these upgrades do not require users to download any of them for their phones.
Instead, Cortana is updated dynamically, so the application should be silently upgraded with new features the moment Microsoft decides to push them live.
This is also one of the reasons why it's hard to tell when Microsoft releases a new update for Cortana and what the changes included are.
Luckily, the folks over at WPCentral have managed to pinpoint some of the improvements that Microsoft might have delivered to Cortana beginning this week.
Keep in mind that these changes may not be available for your device running Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview yet, but you might be eligible for the update in the coming days.
So, here are some of the changes noticed by some of WPCentral's forum users. Note that this is not the full list of improvements, so if you find new ones, make sure to share them in the comments section.
Well, first of all, you will now be able to import your Stock watch list from Bing Finance. New animations on the Live Tile, including weather icons, are available as well.
You might also notice that when asking “What is my name?” Cortana will speak it back. Furthermore, Cortana will now verbally reply to select inquires.
The layout of news has been modified and there's a new quiz option at the bottom of today view that would allow Cortana to learn even more about your personal habits.
Last but not least, Microsoft may have also added a new “Give Cortana Feedback” link right at the bottom of Cortana's today view to offer users a faster and easier way to give feedback on the application/service.
If these changes do seem to apply to your version of Cortana, please let us know in the comments. You might also find new features and improvements that have yet to be discovered, so be sure to list them as well.