After appearing on mobile devices and computers, Cortana’s next big role will be in Bluetooth speakers.
As strange as it might seem, Harman Kardon has teased its upcoming premium speaker will come with Microsoft’s virtual assistant. From the 30 second video, we can hear Cortana responding to voice commands like playing a specific song and setting reminders.
Though it seems simplistic at first, it’s likely Cortana will have her full set of abilities when we’ll likely see the speaker at CES 2017 and it releases sometime later in the same year. On PCs and smartphones, Cortana has already proven herself to be quick witted, capable of quick searches, learning more about you and making better suggestions over time.
Hello Cortana
Of course, Cortana isn’t the only voice-controlled digital assistant built into a speaker. Amazon has already established itself in this space with its premium Echo speaker and a standalone voice controlled hub called the Echo Dot.
Microsoft is also going to run into stiff competition with Google’s Assistant-driven Home smart speaker. Plus, anyone with an iPhone can also wirelessly connect Siri to their Bluetooth speaker.
Despite the crowded platform, Cortana moving beyond the fold of computing and mobile devices is huge. This tease follows shortly after a WinHEC presentation described Cortana would be coming to refrigerators and thermostats.
With all these developments coming next year, Cortana could soon become the center of the internet of things.
- What is an internet of things anyway?
