Part of the attraction of virtual assistants such as Cortana is that, as time goes by, they get smarter and smarter. More topics become available for discussion and as such their utility increases considerably the longer that they exist. Indeed, in the past, Microsoft has made no secret of its ambition for Cortana to become a true AI, even if still a pale imitation of that in Halo.
Redmond has taken another step towards this goal today as Cortana has been updated with a host of new improvements that will no doubt be of great use to many. The first of these updates is support for fitness trackers, such as the Microsoft Band, allowing users to track their workouts easily and get reminders for daily exercise. It is likely that this is part of a greater effort by Microsoft to expand its health offerings, as this is widely regarded to be a huge area of growth in the near future.
Cortana has also gained a new interest in movies, allowing users to find showtimes and trailers, along with being able to ‘Pick the Winners’. The meaning of the latter has not been expanded upon yet, but it is likely that it will involve the Bing prediction engine somehow.
How do you use Cortana? Let us know in the comments below.
