Microsoft promises Cortana will be coming to more devices throughout 2018

really? I've heard from almost everyone that the mic on the invoke is actually quite sensitive. that's been my experience as well.

I have an Invoke and two Echo Dots (for the Cortana/Alexa integration coming later) and the Echo Dots mics seem much better. I honestly don't understand why they didn't just put far field mics into the Xbox One S/X for Cortana in the home. No need to buy speakers with an Xbox in say the living room and a laptop in the den for instance.

It is certainly not my experience.  Maybe I  have a bad one...The dots are much better for my home right now.  I know i need to move it's location, it's currently on my counter under cabinets which could create some problems I guess. If it wasn't for wink integration the device would be completely useless to me except being a good BT speaker.  Alexa triggers the wink actions much faster though so if i'm in range of both, alexa is my go to.  I had high hopes for Cortana, but I fear this is another lost opportunity in the home.  Every xbox one with a kinect should have been a cortana device from day one.

Awesome? Really? But every time MS claims to be 'focussing' on a product it gets a major cutting. Sounds like the death knell for Cortana to me...

Will only be worth it, if Cortana skills are going to be available in more countries, which currently isn't the case at all.

Tbh I just don't see it taking off. For me I used cortana from the beginning but now I've had to move to android I've moved to ok Google as voice was not part or the android app and someone got me a home for Xmas to so I really don't seem my self going back to cortana unless Ms can set it all as default and how will it link to music services now groove has gone another ms product I was forced to move away from.

I don't either.  Microsoft is always so darn late to the game.  They usually have good ideas, but they are just too slow to execute on anything.  Cortana was great when they first introduced it with Windows 8, and they were ahead of the game.  Then they sat on it while they watched Google and Amazon leap in front of them with all their devices and far better 3rd party integration.  They really need to focus on the development side if they want to get serious about being a player in this space. I am an Echo user because I hate saying "OK Google" or "Hey Google" as a wake word.  It doesn't roll off the tongue well.  Echo is also the only one that has Sonos integration.  I know Sonos integration is planned later this year for Google Assistant, but that wake word has to go before I would even consider switching.

I agree, it is never going to work if all this is just hot air and the features don't get beyond Microsoft's back yard. The reduction of the music service compatibility to US only is awful. Should have kept Groove going until they were ready to transition to Spotify across all markets, but they stopped it and ONLY THEN thought to get started on a replacement. Then gave up at the border... AGAIN! Also, has anyone told Ol' Nads about this Cortana plan? I bet he spits out his coffee when he hears about these plans. Expect a retrenching Cortana team. He won't forgive easily, I bet.

Wait, I thought that Microsoft was shutting down Cortana, which was just another sign that Microsoft was on the brink of shutting down all operations. I mean, that is what people around here were saying. But now we are told that Microsoft is doubling-down on adding it to more places? Or is them accelerating Cortana use somehow a sign that they are on the brink of shutting down all operations?

You're trying to apply logic to troll theories, careful you may hurt something ;-)

Again, if you listen to people around here the trolls are people like myself; someone who does not praise Microsoft's competition and condemn every action Microsoft takes. Even the editor of this site likes to talk about how great this site is doing because of the influx of trolls. No, it is not my place to apply logic, it is to take the back seat, keep my mouth shut while those good, well-intentioned Apple and Android fans who just want to show us the light, complain about how they are not treated fairly, downvoted, and need more articles about non-Microsoft products.

Actions speak louder than words.

Yep, and your actions show that you are one of the biggest trolls around here. And how about all those products other companies shut down? At Google they call it "spring cleaning." Apple is well known for shutting down service after service after service, losing people's data, quietly discontinuing products and no longer supporting them (Airport?). And when that happens, the fans of those products cheer that action. But Microsoft cuts some of their products that are not doing as well, and well, it means the end of Microsoft. The funny thing about this is you are here, trolling over cortana, and yet one of your favorite companies, Apple, has been talking up their vaporware HomePod for a while now. Actions speak louder than words, or in this case, not speaking, because Apple doesn't have a product that competes with what this article is about. As for Microsoft speaking louder than words, this article is about Microsoft's tech is now part of Qualcomm's Smart Speaker Platform tools. So Cortana is increasing availablity. Meanwhile, HomePod is still vaporware with a lot of promises that Apple has already broken. Maybe it is because Apple has lost their ability to execute, just as we have seen with the bug riddled iPhone X.

Airport was sold for many years, and I still get updates. What was your point again?

"Airport was sold for many years, and I still get updates. What was your point again?" And then I see this over on MacRumors, posted just a few minutes ago: "Apple has not updated the AirPort Time Capsule or the AirPort Extreme since June of 2013, and it's been even longer since the AirPort Express was last updated -- 2012. A late 2016 rumor even suggested Apple had stopped development on its line of AirPort base stations entirely, disbanding its AirPort team and moving engineers to other projects." So they have not shipped a product for near 5 years, no longer have a team producing updates to software, but you are still getting updates? Now we know your stories are fiction.

They're talking about hardware updates, they updated firmware within the last month.

I don't remember Google and Apple shutting down their wearables, mobile platforms and music services. Those are big deals and quite a bit more important than a router or RSS reader. I wouldn't mind seeing Apple fail. I like the iPhone X and would actually consider one. They have stagnated though. They have nothing else exciting. Like Microsoft in the past, I feel Apple are just coasting. They think they are invincible. Meanwhile, Amazon and Google are pushing hard. Amazon is ahead with Alexa, but Google is doing everything they can to keep up. Microsoft and Apple are twiddling their thumbs.

It isn't my fault that you have a piss-poor memory. Remember Ping? Or how about ad based radio? Lala, Beats Streaming? Any of those sound familiar? And of course, even the biggest of Apple fanboy sites are reporting that Apple is planning on shutting their music store and going streaming only. As for non music services, there is MobileMe, .mac, iTools; how long until iCloud goes away? And between each of those throwing away products and restarting, they threw away people's data each time. So let's not forget about Apple vaporware that we are currently waiting for - HomePod and iTunes on the Microsoft store. As for hardware, AirPort was discontinued. The Apple HiFi, which SJ called the best sounding speaker ever made (yeah, my $10,000 setup sounds inferrior to a $200 2 channel speaker), how long did those bluetooth headphones stick around? And I could go on, and on, and on, and...   As for Google, wow, this will be a long list. iGoogle, Google Mini, Google Chatback, Google Video, Google Symbian, Gears, Wave, Knol, Aardvark, Flip, Google Answers, Google Base, BebaPay, Blog Search, Building Maker, Buzz, Code Search, Dictionary, Fast Flip, Fiber, Friend Connect, 411, Health, Swirl, Insights, Latitude, Lively, Meebo, Moderator, Notebook, Offers, Orkut, Pack, Web Security, Image Labeler, Sidewiki, Subscribed Links, Picnik, Reader, Urchin, Talk, Sidewiki, Dodgeball, Jaiku, Zeitgeist, TV, Optimizer, Code, Map Maker, Picasa, Revolv, Car, Glasses, ... My fingers are tired from typing in more Google services. But you believe that Google and Apple never shut down products or services.
The fact say otherwise.

i have never even heard of most of those google ones, so they must have been mainly in the states.  Also how many of thoise have been intergrated into other services? Picasso is now google Photos, i don;t know if it offers the same features, becaus ei do nto use it, but I you can still store your photos and share than.  Google glass was never going to come to anything to be honest, a stupid idea in the first place, I have no idea what Google was thinking of in the first place.  Igoogle was just a portal, nbot that importent, did anyone even use it?     

They do. Just one example: the Google home device before they took over Nest. The service was cancelled and the device became worthless.

"and your actions show that you are one of the biggest trolls around here" I suppose it takes one to know one, you're so completely consumed/infatuated with certain posters and what they say that you even follow them to other sites and then troll them on WC about what they've said or didn’t say on the Apple or Android sites.

I wouldn't call releasing a few reference designs "doubling down."

Right. Where is the Surface Home? How can they push their platform when they don't have even have a product to point to?

"Where is the Surface Home?" Wait, so you are now inventing products, and criticizing Microsoft not producing them? Apple confirmed they were working on a Car, on a full TV, and we have yet to see those products. I left those out of my list above because they are not real shipping products. But now you are criticizing Microsoft for something they never announced, produced, no shipped? You truly are delusional.

"I wouldn't call releasing a few reference designs "doubling down."" It certianly is not shutting down the entire project and leaving the market like you and your little friends like to pretend it is.

They also said they will remain focused on mobile and look how that turned out. To believe the crap that comes from MS these days you have to be really naive, a big time fanboy or just plain dumb.

Or you could be like me... A big time fanboy that now feels just plain dumb! :-(

Did you notice that they're promising something in the long term? Now they say November, but the year that it "will" happen is not writen. In november the will say 2020, after that Microsoft will shutdown operations, that's a fact. More information, Soon™. XD XD XD

But if microsoft just killed cortana on xbox.... Nonsense

That might only become relevant once MS realises that here is a world outside of the US and a few other countries. And the word "committed" coming from MS sounds bitter after the Lumia experience.

I see.. Didn't they promise something similar about Windows Phone or Microsoft Band? (Not including Groove here because they were treating it like trash since the beginning)

They did. Basically, every time they 'focus' on something its days are very definitely numbered.

Will microsoft ever be commited to more language support with Cortana, will be the more relevant question, that needs reassurance.

I highly doubt it. Cortana innovation has stalled, so additional languages are unlikely.

Until true multi-language support is baked into Cortana, she should use Skype Translation to translate what you say to her and what she says back to you.  A bit of a convoluted process but it could be partially effective or at least good for a lot of laughs.

They might even consider the fact that even in countries where English is not spoken natively, people are used to the English language enough to communicate with Cortana. I think that my (and most of my fellow country(wo)men's) ability to use and understand English still surpasses Cortana's.

Yes, I do not expect Microsoft prioritize Swedish, but over here anyone tech savvy enough to use voice commands understands and speaks English quite well.

Actions speak louder than words.

I agree and the only thing Satya as a crew are taking action on is the cloud.

You can't even get posting a comment right, and we are supposed to use you as an example of how great the competition is?

Feeling salty today? Yes their comment was broken English, but that's no reason to go adfter them. Given Microsoft's history, they are right. Unless Microsoft (Satya and his crew) are talking about Azure or Surface, we can't really believe what they say.

"Yes their comment was broken English" It was not a reference to broken English. I don't read too much into grammar, spelling, etc. because there could be many reasons for it not being correct - autocorrect, etc. It is in reference to how he posts it as a response to a comment, and then posted it top level, too.

It was meant to be a post first. It also worked as a comment on your post. It wasn't an accident. The Android app makes replies easy.

Ask Google why their keyboard auto corrected with the wrong words or try reading and figuring out the proper word it should have been prior to auto correct overwriting words I initially typed. Before you say anything about proof reading, when I'm on the go, I don't always have time to proof before posting responses.

what idiot of a fanbaby keeps voting down comments that simply speak the truth??

Reference designs meaning they still need 3rd parties to want to make products with Cortana. I sure miss the excitement we had with Windows 8.1 launching, Cortana with Jenn Taylor actually doing voice work for her, and a full family of MS devices Seemlessly connected and working together. It was only about 4 years ago but feels like an eternity. They were exciting times.

Exciting times for the incredibly tiny and utterly irrelevant group of Microsoft fanboys, maybe, but for the rest of the world it was the beginning of the end of modern desktop computing. In 2018 software is in such a sad and sorry state of existence, windows phone efforts are non existing and the entire windows family itself is at the edge of utter irrelevancy, Microsoft has really 'worked over' the consumers with endless bad decisions these past 4 (really 6) years and it's only going to get worse.

I returned my Invoke for an Allure, their Alexa device. What happened to the Cortana/Alexa integration that was supposed to come at the end of last year?

So what? Microsoft has publicly announced commitment to many products they ultimately kill off. Cortana doesn't have a chance because Microsoft has no meaningful consumer recognition and no consumer device portfolio to speak of. Third party makers will end up in the same place as Windows/Phone/Mobile makers. They can put Cortana on as many devices as they like, but unless Android, iPhone, and Amazon customers are going to use it, it doesn't have a remote chance of gaining any meaningful traction. It will be interesting to revisit this in a couple of years when Cortana is gone.    

Classic Microsoft.  They start off with a good idea, and then fail to execute.  If they had Amazon's ability to execute or at least grow an offering, Cortana would be where the Amazon Echo offerings are today.  The band, Windows Phone, and many other products would still exist today.  Microsoft, where good ideas go to die. 

That's just unfair. They had an idea to work with Nokia, and they executed them pretty well. They had an idea to work with HP, and they executed their products pretty well. They had an idea to build a Windows ecosystem, and that been executed pretty terminally as well. No-one wields the axe quite like Ol' Nads.

I for one don't believe anything Satya, Terry, or Joe says unless it's related to killing a product; thus far that's the only thing they've kept their word regarding. When I actually see products on TV and store shelves I'll believe them. I also don't want see a product where I must use Alexa to access Cortana, that's a fail in my book too!

Unfortunately I struggle to believe even when something is on the shelf.  How do I know they aren't going to pull the plug a year later?  I get they are a business and need to think about the bottom line but burning your customers-real or perceived-will hurt your bottom line in the long run.    

I used to look forward to going to the mall by me so I could stop by the Microsoft store. However, this past weekend my fiancee asked if I wanted to go in, and I instinctively said, "No, they're dead to me." That was over dramatic, but those words came out a person that others call Mr. Microsoft. I still love my Pro 4 and want a Book 2 for my next work computer, but I no longer believe what the executives at Microsoft say unless it's Azure or Surface related.

I bought the Invoke and actually like it, but am wondering now..      Return due to a Christmas gift is coming close..

I agree, it's quite bad right now.  The fact that spotify requires a premium subscription forces me to just stream over BT. I have my smart home stuff connected to Cortana via Wink and interacting with Cortana vs Alexa is so much slower.  Cortana wants to repeat the action it's going to do instead of just shutting up and doing it. I also don't find the microphones to be anywhere near as sensitive as my echo dots.  I don't have a lot of confidence in this promise.

It's the Microsoft game play: Get a solid idea, then take so incredibly long to get to market that either:
1. Developers give up and consumers forget about it, or
2. The technology just becomes irrelevant or is superseeded by a competitors "innovation".

"the company is still committed" Has become code for, we're quietly exiting the offering. I don't believe this statement one bit.

I'm sorry MS.  Youre heart might be in the right place but I just don't believe you.  

I tried the Invoke. Maybe other developers can create a better Cortana 'experience' with this SDK. I like Windows way better than Android, but the Invoke should be a revoke.

This will be another lost cause

I want the Invoke, but with Microsoft's track record of abandoning things after a couple years, I'm hesitant to get it. If it came with Cortana and Alexa, then I'd definitely get it.

What about REGIONS? Because there are already devices that I'd like to fully use Cortana on (including freakin' DESKTOP) and I can't.

Sorry MS we simply don't believe you. You promised you would continue to develop Windows phones but failed to deliver, and then blamed developers. Same with Band and other products. Under this inept CEO MS as we know it will change greatly. At the moment it seems they are trying to appeal to the stock market, and are being successful, but there is zero loyalty amongst most investors, unlike many here, and as soon as the bubble bursts they will desert. I'm a great MS supporter but they are really frustrating me at the moment.

The problem for Microsoft is that spending money on consumer devices powered by Microsoft is looking more risky. It's going to take a while to rebuild trust.

Needs to be a speaker for controlling Xbox in place of Kinect

Back in May there were arcticles about MS develping a Home Hub similar to the Echo Show and Google's new devices that would also use Cortana. The article did say that MS would rely on others to actually develop the devices. I haven't heard anything since then.  

I think the headline most people would have wanted was 'Coming to more COUNTRIES throughout 2018' For those of us where English is the first language, the ole Rubino excuse of 'language is hard', doesn't really wash four years later.

Nor does the current excuse of "you can always change your device's region to US". It's not how Cortana is supposed to work, you can't expect people changing their device language and region to use a product that's precisely designed to talk to you in your language and provide region-contextual resources. Besides, this US-centric crap of "everyone in the world should be ready to change their device language english at the drop of a hat" is ridiculous, no one in the US would do it with another language.

Some of you readers around here need to get over things. This is a business first and foremost and if you aren't making money and haven't for a period of time you kill the project. Microsoft shutting down their wearable, music and mobile platforms weren't big deals. Well, except maybe for the 1% of the market that actually used the services. In reading this site, everyone here must be the 1%. It doesn't matter how much anyone around here loved those products, they didn't sell, they didn't make money and they were killed. It was pointless to continue with Windows Mobile, Groove etc. This is nothing about abandoning everyday customers. If any of those services really made money they would still be around. 

Then you're not reading comments well. Most here say, that if MS had really made an effort, their products would have sold.

Comment was supposed to be a reply to another

At CES, It concerns me when I see other voice products forming partnerships with household appliance vendors.  No mention of Cortana.  COME ON!  LETS GO!  GET THE LEAD OUT!  DO YOU ENJOY BEING LAST ALL OF THE TIME?

:)) what appliance and device maker would ever trust Microsoon after their ZERO commitments and monumental failures?? Harman Kardon were simply the same fools HP was with their X3...trusted the wrong company

I'm all for supporting MS, but I just wonder why companies keep doing it.

Sorry to those who love to hate on Cortana, but I really do love my Invoke and Cortana works quite well across all my devices.  I am REALLY hoping to get something that will give me a good option for talking to Cortana in the car.  I miss being able to use "Hey Cortana" on my Lumia 950 now that I am on Android.  Cortana's handling of calls and texts and voice searching on my Lumia 950 was far superior to any of the nonsense alternatives on my Galaxy S8 and, sadly, Cortana on Android isn't able to work the same way as it could on my L950.  The Invoke is a solid device overall.

I agree.  Cortana handled messaging and calls better than Siri and Google assistant

You're right. That's why it's bad you can actually only use it in a few countries. I can predict the headlines from over a year already: support for Cortana stops because of the low global adaptation...

By the time Cortana comes to my language I'll be eating dirt. I don't care either way. As MS has abandoned most consumer products there are very few MS products left where Cortana actually has added value. Cortana is going for the same faith as windows mobile, MS has killed off too many consumer products to give Cortana a platform to make it grow. I guess we can add this service to the pile of to be discontinued shortly for lack of skills and users. MS still has not figured out that you need to keep all your products around for other products to be successful. With the killing of mobile all other consumer products will soon follow, and as more products are discontinued the remaining products will also have a harder time finding enough users. Nadella has led MS on the road to nowhere.

bellyer/donkiluminate not sure why you guys got down voted but I will join you and I am sure get down voted too.
I really like Cortana. Still rocking my Lumia ICON from Verizon. Not sure if Siri/Google have updated recently but Cortana has always handled messaging better for me. The fact that she asks me if I want her to read an incoming text and then ask me if I want to reply if I listen to it...pure gold for me.
I do have to admit being hesitant to buying the Invoke. I do feel what many are feeling here and that is being burned by the upper echelon at MS on several products.
I am a stock holder. Very small one but still...and I would much rather see something set for the long term than this "instant gratification" that investors seem to want now.

As of today January 8th, we are yet to see the iTunes app in the Windows Store. This is a promise Microsoft committed to bringing to the Windows store by end of year 2017.

Funny. So now Microsoft is responsible for Apple being so incompetitent that they cannot run a tool to convert a package to be uploaded to the store? It took me about 3 days to change our build system to also create a store package and have it ready to upload, and our product is more complicated than iTunes. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised this is by design by Apple. Delay the product so the fools believe that Microsoft is incompetient and the store has problems. Maybe if Apple didn't have such shi- code, it would have shipped by the time that ***Apple*** promised.

Maybe the itunes app got .dmged on the way to the Microsoft store.

you are clearly a smoked fanboy. The itunes packages has drivers and multiple components besides the itunes application. Why should Apple hurry and bother with that junk windows 10S and that pathetic store when anyone can install itunes the classic way?? Get it through your thick fanbaby heads, no one but you care about that junk windows 10S.

By then, I will probably have plently of alexa's and google devices around my house. Talk about always late to the game!

Microsoft has product in the market today, Apple does not. Is Apple late to the game?

they are clearly not into things i care about.. fitness device, mobile, smart home devices, music etc.. just name it and they were late!

Quite a difference whether the statement is 'I am still (!) 100 percent committed' or 'I am 100 procent committed'. As for me, it does not matter what they do with Cortana. For residents of the Netherlands it is just a useless piece of bloatware.

This is how Microsoft tell you that Cortana is very close to be grooved. Did the same with WP.

When Microsoft promises anything its usually the opposite.

To many of these personal assistants to be honest and no easy way to disable them, that includes Google as well. While it is possible to disable it on an Android phone, it is a pain, the same with Cortana on Windows 10, even more so as on windows 10 it needs a reg edit. they are even trying to build the things into TV sets and other products.     

We all know that Microsoft has form for saying that they are still in the game when they are not and with Cortana I'm finding it very hard to believe that they still are. Cortana's skill set hasn't evolved in years (230 skills for Cortana vs 25,000 for Alexa) and if anything is less able now that it used to be. I remember when I could ask for the last message from a contact - something that's no longer able.  I am still hopeful but wonder if honesty wouldn't be the best policy here.  

Microsoft are starting to sound like politicians... Over promise and under deliver.
I hope that they prove me wrong though.

LOL

Lets see... 

LOL, let it come...who on earth trusts Microshit anymore? All their words mean nothing...all lies. PATHETIC

I do not believe a word they say anymore, just after something actually happens.

This article sums it all up...Voice Assistant Trends for 2018

From the article from the link above "Microsoft has already spotted the writing on the wall, and although Cortana is in most Windows devices (which still have a large share of the personal computer space), it really hasn’t taken off. They have been smart however, and already formed a partnership with Amazon so that Cortana and Alexa can communicate. This is especially significant with the announcement of Alexa for Business, a place where Windows machines abound. Being able to talk to Alexa from your computer may be enough to get users to try it out, and maybe get comfortable enough with it to even start to use Cortana itself. It will never dominate, but it has taken steps to survive."   Since my comment was deleted because I stated the same as above, maybe the qoute from an article will remain

We already have PC manufactures including Alexa in Windows 10 PC's (See CES).  You have Lenovo working with Google on a Video Tablet (CES) and we see Alexa coming to some cars and even a Kickstarter.com funded gadget that will put Alexa in any car.  Sorry, they are too late once again.  Alexa will also be offred in some upcoming TVs   I am sorry, Microsoft has already lost the most important thing, "mind share"  When people think voice activiated devices, they ARE NOT thinking Cortana.

Im now vendor agnostic, I go with the best provider in a given area.  Microsoft for my business as that's the best most ubiquitous solution, Google Voice Assistant on mobile as that's the best most ubiquitous mobile service, Alexa as that's the best home IoT service.  The one thing that id love to change is Google to Alexa on mobile as then I have Alexa across everything.  Cortana is dead/dying, as for Siri...who? lol.  I wonder what ever happened to Viv (advanced assistant created by the team who created Siri, Samsung purchased them) as that looked coool.  

How about the annoucements they did about Cortana for Volvo and BMW? Never heard or seen anything about it since then.

I need specific examples of what is coming.  I am a consumer who had purchased an ecobee thermastat along with a Harmon Kardon Invoke with hearing the promise of them working with each other.  Still waiting!  The speaker is great, don't get me wrong, but the skill are extremely lacking.

I hope so. I've got a Harman Kardon Invoke, because of Cortana (and the great sound). But I'm surprised at the few other items coming out with Cortana integration.