14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is hard at work with adding new features and capabilities to Cortana, the digital personal assistant in Windows Phone 8.1, and a new enhancement has been added to it recently, namely Foursquare integration.
For end-users, this means that they will receive recommendations on local places that others have enjoyed visiting, based on data coming from Foursquare.
For those out of the loop, we should note that Microsoft invested some $15 million in Foursquare earlier this year, which suggests that the new enhancement in Windows Phone 8.1’s Cortana is the result of that investment.
A screenshot that has emerged on Reddit shows that Cortana will suggest places based on users’ preferences, yet the data is powered by the aforementioned service. Courtesy of this, the digital personal assistant will be able to deliver customized recommendations.
Additionally, Cortana should also be able to fetch Foursquare data in order to deliver tips, discounts, and more, all based on the user’s location.
Marcus Ash, Microsoft's group program manager for Cortana on Windows Phone, has already confirmed the new feature on Twitter, though he has not provided additional details on the matter.
As Neowin notes, Foursquare brings to Windows Phone 8.1 a massive database consisting of user-generated data, all focused on local attractions.
Cortana will tap into this database to pair the info available there with what she knows of user’s habits and preferences, thus delivering the aforementioned personalized suggestions.
Over the past several weeks, Cortana has seen a variety of updates, enhancing users’ experience with stock prices and charts, Nearby Places and Local Apps, along with Local Events, and more.
All these updates have been performed server-side, which means that users received them automatically as soon as their fired up the personal assistant on their smartphones.
By the looks of it, said Nearby Places, Local Apps, and Local Events features in Cortana will take advantage of the new Foursquare integration.
Unfortunately, the virtual personal assistant is officially available only in the United States for the time being, which means that these local recommendations are tailored for this market.
However, Microsoft is expected to expand the availability of Cortana to more territories in the not-too-distant future, maybe as soon as this week, with China and the UK being the first markets to receive it.
The Redmond-based software giant has already confirmed plans to push the digital personal assistant to more countries world-wide, but it hasn’t provided specific details on which of them will receive it, nor on when that might happen.
@hellojao @bdsams Nice. @MikeCalcagno and his team made 4sq integration happen.
— Marcus Ash (@marcusash) July 29, 2014