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Cortana public beta released for Android
Cortana public beta released for Android
Android users can now test out Microsoft's digital assistant Cortana after the company released a public beta version.
The app will differ slightly from Cortana in its native Windows environment - for example, launch phrase "Hey Cortana" is only available across Windows products for now, the company said.
US users can sign up for the program by visiting its link in the Google Play store, while UK customers will have to wait until it is rolled out across other markets. An iOS version will soon be made available.
Microsoft announced it was working on an advance version of Cortana for Android and iOS back in March, and has now integrated the assistant into its desktop offerings through the recently-released Windows 10.
Cortana was first revealed in April 2014 as Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri and Google's Google Now voice-powered assistants. It made its UK debut in September last year with the launch of the Lumia 735 – the first smartphone to go on sale in Britain with the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system pre-installed.
The assistant has been designed to complete everyday mundane tasks, including creating reminders to notify you at specific times, make calls and search the internet.