14 DAY TRIAL // Cortana, the digital personal assistant that Microsoft has included in its Windows Phone 8.1 operating system version and which is officially available only in the United States at the moment, might arrive in the UK in about two weeks, it seems.
Microsoft has confirmed a few times before that Cortana was coming to more markets, and that the UK and China were first on the list, but no official release date for the feature has been provided as of now.
However, info coming from Marcus Ash, group program manager of Cortana, reveals that users in the UK won’t have to wait for longer than two weeks before they can enjoy the digital personal assistant.
“Barring an unforeseen issue, down to less than 2 weeks for the developer preview,” Ash said in a tweet, responding to a user inquiry on the matter.
Apparently, the team is currently finalizing various localized features that could make Cortana a great companion for Windows Phone users in the UK.
Furthermore, info coming from a WPCentral reader, who apparently works for Microsoft, suggests that Cortana is indeed nearing an official release in the UK, but that users in China will have to wait a while longer for it to arrive.
“Last week, Cortana UK and China went from Dev support to Live Site support which means we are nearing release…UK for sure, China may be delayed a week or so later, but we're all pushing hard to get this out the door,” said user revealed.
Moreover, it appears that users in India might also get a taste of Cortana sooner rather than later, though no info on a possible availability date has been provided until now.
"India is still being worked on, but it will be sooner than later. No guess on a date yet," the aforementioned user, who already proved accurate, revealed.
Over the past several weeks, Microsoft has been working hard on expanding the capabilities of Cortana, though these enhancements were made mainly server-side.
Undoubtedly, the company will try to make the digital personal assistant available in even more markets out there as soon as possible, though it remains to be seen how exactly things will advance.
In the meantime, we should patiently wait for Cortana to arrive in the UK, as more info on an expanded rollout will certainly be provided after that. Keep an eye on this space to learn more on the matter.