Windows Phone users have a reason to rejoice, as according to Vodafone DE and The Verge, Microsoft’s digital voice assistant app Cortana is indeed a part of the upcoming release Windows Phone 8.1.
This revelation comes four days after Joe Belfiore, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Manager of Windows Phone confirmed that Windows Phone 8.1 will be coming sometime this spring. However, neither Belfiore nor any other Microsoft representative would say much about any of the new features that we could expect in the upcoming version.
A few days ago, the Windows Phone 8.1 software development kit (SDK) leaked on the interweb, and we were among, if not the first to take the SDK for a spin. While the emulator hinted at many new features — support for Universal Apps, new notification hub aka “Action Center”, “Battery Power Sense” tool, support for third-party SMS client, but Cortana was disabled. It was assumed that the service was still in development and may arrive as an update a few months after the release of Windows Phone 8.1.
A popular Facebook Page Windows Phone Lovers did some digging and found Cortana mentioned in some scripts inside the SDK. But so far, although we have seen Swipe Keyboard, InPrivate browsing, and File Downloads in action, Cortana’s demo is yet to be seen.
Again, until Microsoft confirms it, we can’t really bank much on the rumors.
Further reading: Cortana, Windows Phone
