Chime in: Should Microsoft launch a Cortana mic for Xbox?

Cortana is facing stiff competition, primarily from Amazon's Alexa platform, which recently began arriving on Windows 10 PCs. You might be wondering whether Microsoft still cares about Cortana, but apparently Redmond does, with plans already in the works for 2018 updates.

However, on Xbox One, the clunky voice assistant has barely had any meaningful updates for what feels like years, and considering "she's" meant to replace the default voice commands on your Xbox, she's not really up to the challenge. Yet.

The lack of development might simply stem from the fact that, well, nobody is using her. But how can they? Microsoft recently killed Kinect, whose far-field microphone array was by far the best way to interact with Cortana outside of phones. The only way to get Cortana's attention on Xbox without Kinect is via a microphone, which isn't always convenient.

So, we put the question to you, dear readers: Do you care if Microsoft brings a dedicated microphone replacement for Kinect to Xbox? timcarnes23 on our forums sure does.

timcarnes23

12-17-2017 09:26 PM

When will microsoft do the obvious move and support microphnes on xbox one or make their own microphone? Now that kinect is dead, make a usb attached microphone that can activate cortana. It needs to be under $30, but that seems more than possible. Also, how about a media remote with a microphone? It just seems odd how microsoft puts a lot of effort into cortana on xbox and then basically...

Reply

As a big fan of the Amazon Echo, it's a sore point how far Microsoft dropped the ball with Cortana and Kinect, considering it already had strong potential smart home and home automation plays right there, in millions of living rooms. It might be too little too late at this point, but if any effort is going to be made in this area, Microsoft needs to act sooner than later. And it better not be U.S.-only, like the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker.

Hit the forum thread below and chime in with your two cents.

From the forums: Should Microsoft make a dedicated mic for Cortana on Xbox?