Microsoft Brings Cortana For iOS And Android To The UK

Microsoft is bringing Cortana for Android and iOS over to the UK and extending the virtual assistant’s functionality as well as give it a fresh look.

No set date has been given for Cortana’s debut on Google’s and Apple’s mobile operating systems, but the company said it will land on virtual British soil in a few weeks.

Rule Cortana

The virtual assistant will have gone through a nip and a tuck once it arrives in the UK, which will bring features such as snippets of information, like reminders and weather forecasts, to be displayed Cortana’s landing page.

Cortana will also come with the ability to provide full-page answers and Microsoft has been working to make the app quicker to use.

“Since releasing Cortana on Android and iOS a year ago in the US, you have been telling us what you liked and how you’d like it to be improved.  We listened.  We’ve created a more simplified look and feel for the apps, designed with your mobile life in mind,” said Microsoft’s Laura Jones from the Cortana team.

“Now you can get to what you need faster and easier than ever before with quick actions, putting the most frequent things you do front and centre, so setting a reminder or viewing your reminders is just a tap away when you don’t want to use voice.”

More machine learning

On the other side of the world of machine learning, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has released a new version of its flagship unstructured data analytics engine that taps into the power of machine learning.

With the latest version of HPE IDOL comes the capacity to carryout natural language question answering so that the smart tech can improve the contextual accuracy of human interactions with computers.

While natural language capabilities can be found in chatbots and consumer-grade services, such as Cortana, Siri and Google Assistant, when it comes to answering questions for enterprise-class tasks, such systems hit a stumbling block due to the complexity and context needed to do so accurately.

However, IDOL overcomes this by answering questions and taking actions from an organisations internal data as well as public data sources to provide more accurate responses that can be acted upon.

“Designed to meet the demanding needs of data-driven enterprises, this new, language-independent capability can enhance applications with machine learning powered natural language exchange,” said Sean Blanchflower, vice president of engineering, Big Data Platform.

The rise of such smart software has been touted as a core part of bringing about the much-lauded digital transformation in enterprises.

AI is on the rise; but how much do you know about smart computers?