Cortana allegedly 'ported' to work on Android by hacker group

A Italy-based hacker group called OrangeSec claims to have 'ported' over Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant so that it will work on Android devices. However, their work is not a true port as the team has simply leveraged Cortana's backend that lacks many of the features found on the Windows Phone version.

This port, which team calls "Portaña", only speaks Italian and can only work online. More importantly, it doesn't fully integrate with the Android OS so it won't be able to work as well as the Windows Phone version. When reached for comment by VentureBeat, a Microsoft spokesperson said:

"We believe the best way to enjoy the full Cortana experience is as designed by Microsoft and available through Windows Phone and the Windows 10 technical preview."

Obviously, this hacker team has decided to basically access Cortana's backend without Microsoft's permission and we can't believe the company could be happy about that situation.

There are rumors that Microsoft will launch an official Cortana app that will work with Android and iOS devices sometime in the future, but the company has yet to comment on those reports.

Source: VentureBeat; Thanks to David for the tip!

John Callaham