Microsoft and Amazon have partnered to integrate Cortana and Alexa that will offer more choice, value and access to both intelligent personal assistants.
Available later this year, this collaboration will allow users to access Alexa via Cortana on Windows 10 PCs, followed by Android and iOS in the future. Conversely, you will be able to access Cortana on Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show.
Consumers using an Alexa device will have to say “Alexa, open Cortana” to talk to Microsoft’s digital assistant, and users using Cortana will have to say “Cortana, open Alexa” to talk to Amazon’s.
Cortana users will be able to have Alexa shop on Amazon.com and manage their Amazon orders and access many of Alexa’s third-party skills by asking Cortana to open Alexa, just as Alexa users will have access to Cortana’s world knowledge and helpful productivity features such as calendar management, day at a glance and location-based reminders simply by asking Alexa to open Cortana.
With Cortana as a guest on Alexa, Alexa users will have access to some of Cortana’s most useful productivity capabilities that help people stay organised and on top of what’s important to them.
What if you’re making breakfast in the morning and need to know if you have enough time to drop off the dry-cleaning before work? On your Alexa device, you can say, “Alexa, open Cortana,” and ask when your first meeting is. If you won’t have enough time, simply ask Alexa to open Cortana again and set a reminder for the end of your workday to drop off the clothes.