Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant for Windows Phone, is going global.
Redmond's answer to Siri is now rolling out in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain as part of an "alpha" launch, Microsoft has announced this week.
"Alpha means that Cortana is new to these countries, most of the features in the beta version are available but some are missing or coming soon," Microsoft said in a blog post.
For instance, reference queries such as "How tall is Mt. Everest?" and the Cortana flight tracking feature Windows Phone users in the United States can access are both unavailable in the versions of the digital assistant being introduced in the four European countries. Also, transit information is only available in larger cities at the moment. Microsoft said it will enable those missing features as soon as it secures more data.
"We have also worked hard to tailor Cortana's personality in each language (with local chit chat and jokes) to make her more locally and culturally relevant (i.e. make sure she fits in!)," the software giant said. "Cortana will also show European football (or as we Americans call "soccer") league data, including Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and La Liga."
Cortana will be available through the Windows Phone Developer Program first, so Microsoft can gather data to help the tailored versions of the digital assistant master its new languages. To begin using and testing Cortana, sign up through the Windows Phone Developer Preview Program.
Cortana was first introduced in the U.S. as part of the Windows Phone 8.1 update earlier this year and has since rolled out in China and the United Kingdom as well.
Side-by-side voice queries of the beta version have demonstrated that Cortana provides similar answers to Siri and Google Now in almost all instances. Cortana includes a predictive notification function similar to Google Now, and it offers event-based notifications that let you request, for example, that "When my brother calls, tell him congratulations." Because Skype is a Microsoft product, Cortana also provides smooth activation of Skype video calls from voice commands.
For more, see: Cortana vs. Google Now vs. Siri: Which Voice Assistant Wins?