Microsoft's Cortana might be lagging behind Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant - but Microsoft says there's a master plan

Microsoft

Microsoft Cortana gets its name from the helpful AI in the "Halo" series of video games.

• There's a lot of skepticism about Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. It lags in apps, smart home support, and hardware integrations.
• However, Microsoft says Cortana isn't cooked yet: It's going to come to more devices beyond just Windows 10 PCs, and you'll see Cortana make more use of Microsoft's data.
• Some changes are coming to Cortana on the Windows 10 PC, too, with Microsoft signaling that it's going to bring Cortana into more parts of the operating system.
• Microsoft says that its long-promised integration with Amazon Alexa is in the final stages of testing and coming soon.

While Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant dominated the conversation at last week's Consumer Electronics Show, it only served to make Microsoft's competing Cortana look severely lacking in comparison.

At CES, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant showed off new integrations with scores of gadgets, including new cars, smart home devices, and third-party headphones and speakers. Amazon even announced a deal with HP, Acer, and Asus to bring Alexa to the Windows 10 PC. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft Cortana is only available on one non-Windows device - the good, but limited, Harmon Kardon Invoke speaker. And while Microsoft showed off some new smart home integrations for Cortana, and compatibility with popular automation tool IFTTT, the Cortana ecosystem simply isn't growing as fast as Amazon's or Google's. 

Confidence in Cortana was further shook by an announcement that Microsoft was cancelling a key and much-hyped integration between the assistant and its Dynamics 365 sales product. Microsoft now says that the announcement was made in error, and that the integration is coming, but the damage had been done. Larry Dignan of ZDNet went so far as to say that CES was "Microsoft Cortana's funeral." 

But Cortana is "not dead yet," Microsoft Corporate VP of Cortana Development Andrew Shuman tells Business Insider. He says that he still believes that Cortana can do things that no other tech company can do - things that take unique advantage of Microsoft technology, data, and the fact that it comes with every copy of Windows 10 and every Xbox One game console, plus apps for Android and iOS.

The big vision might take 5 to 10 years to fully come to fruition, says Shuman. "But we should get started," he says. 

There's a lot that needs to be done. For starters, Shuman says you can expect that Cortana will come to more devices beyond just the Invoke, which launched late last year. And a long-promised integration between Alexa and Cortana, such that you can access one assistant via the other, is in the final stages of testing, he says. 

"We got started in earnest last year getting Cortana out of Windows," says Shuman.

Shuman reiterated some of Microsoft's long-time talking points about Cortana: With access to LinkedIn data, Cortana could one day tell you where the person in your next meeting went to school and what their title is. With Office 365 integrations, Cortana can tell who you work with every day, so it can tell Bob, your boss, apart from Bob, your uncle.

Microsoft

Cortana is available on Windows 10 PCs, the Invoke smart speaker, and iOS and Android apps.

That's data only Microsoft has access to, and it's likely the tech titan's biggest edge in the personal assistant game.

"Cortana remains a strong contender because of its tight integration with enterprise and cloud applications, and especially the [cloud platform] Microsoft Azure," says Gartner Research Director Werner Goertz.

Shuman says that Cortana is designed to enable a "magic scenario" where an "ubiquitous digital assistant" knows who you are and how to help you. For example, an optional Cortana-powered feature in Windows 10 called Commitments scans your e-mail to tell you if you've promised to, say, stop at the store on the way home. With Cortana in more places, you can get that "magic" anywhere, he says. 

"That's delight, right there," says Shuman.

The short term play

In a more immediate sense, Microsoft plans on bringing that "delight" back into Windows 10: As originally reported by Windows Central, Microsoft is currently testing changes to Cortana that would bring it deeper into the operating system. 

The most obvious change is that Cortana will move from its position next to the Start menu, where it's lived since Windows 10 launched in 2015, and go to the other side of the screen, the "action center," next to the clock. While this is currently being tested among members of the Windows Insider early-access program, we're told by a person familiar with Microsoft's thinking that it's likely to make it into the next big update to Windows 10 later this year.

Matt Weinberger/Business Insider

The Harman Karman Invoke, a smart speaker powered by Microsoft's Cortana.

Under the hood, this change portends some rethinking in how Windows 10 and Cortana relate to each other, as Windows Central notes. Right now, Cortana is accessible from the Microsoft Edge browser, able to tell you instantly, say, a restaurant's hours as soon as you hit their webpage. More integrations with built-in Microsoft apps is likely to come next.

So, yes, Cortana is under some degree of pressure - Amazon and Google are building serious momentum, and Microsoft currently lags in some key areas. But Microsoft, and some of its boosters, believe that you shouldn't count Cortana out just yet.

Here's Microsoft's full statement on the state of Cortana, and the changes being tested in Windows 10:

Our vision is to put Cortana everywhere you need assistance to get things done-on your phone, PC, Xbox One, intelligent home speaker and even more in the future. Cortana is deeply integrated into Windows and by testing new engagement opportunities like adding Cortana to Action Center, we're streamlining the user experience and providing easy access to all of Cortana's features, like proactive reminders and email management, to help users stay organized and get things done. In 2018, you can expect Cortana to continue to grow across devices and platforms and deliver new skills and capabilities through our third-party partners.

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