Microsoft Corp on Monday said its Cortana virtual assistant software was available to users of Android mobile devices.
Cortana is Microsoft’s answer to Apple Inc’s Siri and Google Inc’s Google Now, which respond to voice commands on mobile devices.
The launch is part of an effort by Microsoft to expand its mobile presence despite a weak showing for its Windows Phone devices.
“The Cortana app can do most of the things Cortana does on your PC or on a Windows phone,” Microsoft’s Susan Hendrich said in a blogpost.
“With the app, you can manage your hectic lifestyle by setting and getting reminders, searching the Web on-the-go, tracking important information such as flight details, as well as starting and completing tasks across all of your devices,” Hendrich said.
A beta version of Cortana was made available on Monday to users of Android devices in the US, and “we are planning to roll it out to other markets,” she said.
Microsoft in May said it was working on the Android version and another for Apple devices.
According to research firm Gartner Inc, Windows had just 2.5 percent of the global smartphone market in the second quarter, compared with 82 percent for Google’s Android and 14.6 percent for Apple’s iOS.
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