Cortana showing a stock chart is a nice touch on Windows Phone 8.1

By Sam Sabri
last updated

Cortana is still technically in beta for users on Windows Phone 8.1. She's also still technically only available in the United States (though she recently did begin speaking Chinese). Over the past few days there have been a few subtle changes with how Cortana handles stock information.

Ask Cortana to show you the stock of a company and she'll not only tell you it's current price or what it closed at for the day, but will also display the stock chart within her app. It's a cool feature that a ton of you will appreciate.

Tapping the chart will launch you into the Bing Finance app on that stocks overview page. Really nifty. We're having a hard time remember if this has been a feature with Cortana for sometime, but it seems to show a few more details from before.

Notice any other changes with Cortana? Sound off below or report them to the Cortana forum!

Source: Windows Phone Central Forums

Sam Sabri
Sam Sabri
67 Comments
  • Has been there since few weeks now. Only appeared when Bing Finance was installed.
  • Still super nice.
  • Bing Finance needs some updates, like a full screen chart when turning the device into panaroma mode.
  • Sam try this, "show me exchange rate for euro"
  • Guess it does not require Bing finance to be installed. But I guess Cortana speaks out loud only for US stocks
  • Nice, can't wait until Cortana is released.
  • Not sure what to say here. I had something for this..
  • I am taking a stand against Microsoft for refusing to release Cortana for Canada, so I am in a deliberate state of denial.
  • You could change your country. I know it's not the most ideal workaround, but I think a Canadian using US as the country is a lot more compatible than say a European doing that. The only difference is suble spelling changes. Otherwise the dialect is the same.
  • True. I am using my 1520 with region set to US, even though I Ukrainian, lol.
  • Will she use metric or imperial? Because it is a big deal.
  • She mostly does things in imperial though I've changed my regional format to Aussie n that pretty much has everything in metric although u do have to get her to convert the temperature to Celsius
  • Nice stand lol
  • Great news
  • You might need this: ) It's missing after "Chinese".
  • Also "it's current time" should be "its current time"... I've noticed Sam make this mistake before. Finally am tired of it. :P
  • I noticed too! 
  • It's an apostrophe, get over it.
  • Microsoft will take time releasing Cortana worldwide though!!
  • She may be digital but its still a big planet... May take up to 80 days even! ;p
  • Mother Earth is way more she than a computer program, don't you agree?
  • Oh? How much time?
  • Maybe untill WP 9 to be released world wide , summer of 2015
  • Probably in future. That's where she came from :D
  • hype some, over an app? "She"? Lol, idiotic to call it "she".
  • Shut up
  • Cortana has a personality and she is she. No discussion.
  • Seek help, unless you're joking.
  • It's s female voice, why wouldn't it be called a she. Just go away.
  • +1
  • Because it is a program/software/app, and they are always called "it", not "he" or "she", no matter what their speech synthesizer sounds like. It does not have personality, no matter what it sounds like to you.  Calling a software "she" has got to be the most ridiculous and lamest thing ever. Fanboyism to the max!
  • Because it is totally unheard of for non-sentient, non-human things to be called "she" or "her". ...Like boats. Or storms. Or cars. Right?
  • You´re saying that programs/software also have history of being called by feminine? Get real. It is it, no matter how much a speech synthesizer has female pitch and tone. Right?
  • Exactly. Pretty dumb to be mad about something like this.
  • Haters gonna hate
  • "She" is proper. The AI is based on a female personality and actress and most importantly, Microsoft has referred to "her" when discussing Project Cortana. It's language, buddy. :P
  • MS refers it as "her" because of they are doing some PR - and everybody seems to buy their shit. Ships etc. have female status because of history and language. No program/software/app has ever been titled as "she", mainly because it is dumb as hell and makes even the feirciest fanboy look like a damn peasant. Realistics gonna realist.
  • Don't understand why Microsoft is so slow to release Cortana outside the U.S.
    At present it is the best assistant but unless Microsoft get Cortana out into the rest of the world they will be left in Apples wake yet again.
  • Because, unlike in tv shows such as '24' where all it takes is a some rapid fire clicking on a keyboard to deploy technology, things like this takes time to release.
  • No, really doesn't. Look at Google and Apple with Google now and SIRI and all their other products. They release their stuff worldwide at the same time, why can't Microsoft?  Microsoft is just digging a their own grave for Windows Phone.
  • Yes, it does. Siri still not available in the Netherlands/Dutch language..
  • Neither Siri nor Google Now were worldwide at launch, and still aren't now. Siri only supported 6 languages at launch, and only supported search in the US.
  • I think, MS know that the minute it's released Worldwide it'll be compared to Siri, don't forget that the new Lumia with 8.1 don't have Cortana either, outside the US. I'm betting on an autumn release for Xmas...
  • Everything takes time. That's simple. If you're willing to compare, Apple and Google has been working under pressure to each other over 8 years from now. So calm down and you will see. Windows is not what it is in few months. Microsoft had developed it for decades.
  • Neat. Cortana is getting better and better.
  • I've had it since the first big update I thought it was already their
  • "We're having a hard time remember if" should probably have an -ing suffixed to "remember".
  • Hahaha! I just used one of the Skype commands "get ____ on the screen." It launched Skype and then said "bummer, I don't know what you meant by 'get ____ on the screen.'"
  • Lol. Awesome! :)
  • She answers her name, try calling her Cortana, she replies "right here chief", or "yes how can I help"
  • Her impressions, the time, and now this that's so cool. You can ask what's her name and what's your name she will respond appropriately
  • Wow _it_ is so awesome piece of software!
  • I get that they are waiting to release Cortana outside US, but why not slap beta on it and put it out there like the developer preview, then we would have to accept it/her warts and all. Is there actually any kind of date when it will go outside America? I don't know about you lot, but if I presented a project to my boss and he said "great, whats your rollout plan" and I replied "sometime, soon probably, when I think its ready, maybe I'll just give it to one person for a bit and then see" I would be asked to get my coat....
  • FFS. It's quite simple.  They want a good product.  Releasing it half-baked in other countries will just piss people off.  I can already imagine half the brits who use it getting frustrated about getting their weather in F, instead of C. It was developed in the USA, ergo it's ready for the USA.  It'll come to other countries when it's ready for other countries.  Just sit down, shut up and wait patiently.
  • As a Chinese,I just waiting Cortana release
  • I just recently received this update in the past day or 2. Wasn't there before. Very nice.
  • I also noticed the moon and the sun image on the live tile.
  • Would be nice to have her open up my stock app, know what I purchased stocks at, and my broker fees.
  • Funny thing I've noticed with Fortuna: being polite screws up the response. If you say please the response is different. E.g. Get me Microsoft stock shows the chart you mention. Adding please to the end of that does a generic Bing search for Microsoft stock.
  • That should be Cortana obviously. Windows corrected me.
  • She now needs to be able to set timers and stopwatches. Or does WP need to add this most basic of features into the alarms app?
  • When are you going to release Cortana in India. Why such discrimination, that you have released it in US and not at the other places. It seems US people have paid and we have taken it for free.
  • This feature has been there for long. Simply say "stock price <company>" and it's done.
  • I changed region and language to US b4 updating to 8.1 still dint get cortana
  • I want Cortana to Finland! She is so cool, better than boring Siri.
  • This chart is from the first build of preview for devs. Used it a long time ago (nearly 10may) .
  • I still cannot find any practical use to _it_. Perhaps when I have Bluetooth headset and _it_ wakes up with a voice command..