14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Microsoft has officially announced the availability of the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 platform upgrade starting next week (in a Developer Preview version), while also announcing that Cortana, the digital personal assistant in the OS, will be pushed to more markets out there.
Starting next week, users in China, the UK, India, Canada, and Australia will be able to officially enjoy Cortana on their Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 devices, provided that they join the Developer Preview, of course.
In addition to revealing plans to push the feature to more markets, Microsoft has announced that Cortana will be able to provide users with a localized experience in each country, and that users in China will receive the most customizations.
“The huge Chinese market has a bunch of different expectations and needs than the US or other countries—so while Cortana (nicknamed ‘Xiao Na’) generally works the same way in China as the US and the rest of the world, China did get some ‘special features’,” Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore explains in a blog post.
“As you’d expect, in her notebook, she displays what she is tracking for you, so you can see and control it. You can set reminders and quiet hours with her. She understands the whole internet so she readily helps you find anything you need.”
He also notes that Cortana will come with a different appearance in China, as well as with new animations and sounds. Moreover, she will offer support for Chinese (Mandarin) in voice, text, and speech.
On top of that, Cortana will deliver specialized suggestions tailored for Chinese users, including info on air quality in weather cards, driving restrictions details, and tracking of local TV shows and celebrities. Moreover, she will also help users brush up their English by finding words in the Bing Dictionary.
Users in other markets will receive a customized Cortana experience as well, including those in the UK, where the digital personal assistant will support UK spellings and pronunciations, while also offering Bing-provided local data on sports teams (for the EPL).
Moreover, UK users will be provided with info on London Stock Exchange, commuter conditions, and more. Cortana will also feature voice and accent specific for the UK, along with a tweaked personality, which will make it more locally relevant.
Users in the United States will receive a series of improvements too, such as new natural language scenarios, snooze times for reminders, and a series of tweaks for Cortana’s personality.
Moreover, users will be able to invoke Cortana hands-free when in the car, provided that the phone has been connected to a car Bluetooth kit integrated with the contacts list. Thus, users will be able to simply bring up the personal assistant by saying “Call Cortana.”
In Canada, India, and Australia, Cortana will arrive only in an alpha flavor, and will allow users to try the digital personal assistant using English language models from the US and the UK.
As mentioned above, Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 will start arriving on Developer Preview devices as soon as the next week. The OS upgrade will be delivered to all Windows Phone 8.1 users in the coming months, Microsoft has confirmed.