Goodbye Cortana, Hello Alexa on Windows 10 PC from Acer, Asus, and HP

[NutmegState]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...new-windows-10-pcs-launching-later-this-year/

"Unlike Amazon and Google, Amazon and Microsoft have been on decent terms with each other recently. Last year, the two companies announced plans to allow their virtual assistants, Alexa and Cortana, to "talk" to each other on Windows 10 PCs. At CES, a number of Windows 10 PC manufacturers are announcing their own partnerships with Amazon to integrate Alexa into their devices, a separate initiative with the apparent goal of bringing full Alexa features to Windows 10 devices.

"Hands-free access to Alexa on PCs can be helpful to customers in many ways, like making it simple to interact with your smart home, get news or weather, set timers, and more," Steve Rabuchin, Vice President of Amazon's Alexa division, said in Acer's press release. "This is a big step toward making Alexa available wherever customers might need her."

Acer, Asus, and HP have all announced forthcoming PCs that integrate Alexa: select Acer Aspire, Spin, Switch and Swift notebooks and some Aspire all-in-one PCs; select Asus ZenBook and VivoBook laptops; and HP's new Pavilion Wave PC, which looks most like an Amazon Echo than any of the other devices. Some of the new devices will use Intel's Smart Sound Technology, an integrated audio DSP, for improved audio, voice, and speech interactions with Alexa."

 

[RumoredNow]

I guess Cortana will be getting the axe soon...

I don't have any iOS/Apple so no Siri for me, please and thank you.

I won't Google Now. I put as few of my eggs into Google's basket as I can.


I use Cortana all the time on PC and Handset. If Microsoft is going to let it die off (like they do with so many things) and I have to move to something else I guess it would be Alexa. However, I wouldn't allow listening mode. Not sure I want Amazon sorting through my background sound. I hardly even use Hey Cortana anymore on PC (I just click the mic icon) and don't have it on my current Android Phone (listening, Cortana is my default assistant).


It really does seem that Microsoft is bound and determined to get rid of anything that is strictly consumer facing. I don't get it. And just when they had dedicated speakers trying to splash Cortana into the home. Harman Kardon must be peaved.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

^kinda like how they left HP and the Elite X3 hanging out to dry too. I was really hoping that Cortana would make it. Fingers are still crossed.

 

[Slip5]

obviously consumer sensibilities and intuition for the consumer is lacking from Nadella and co... surface is probably an outlier as it is as traditional PCs are easy to understand.

terrible

 

[Slip5]

obviously consumer sensibilities and intuition for the consumer is lacking from Nadella and co... surface is probably an outlier as it is as traditional PCs are easy to understand.

terrible

 

[evillama]

WTH, MS loses ground again in the consumer market. Was so hoping to see a fridge with Windows 10 or Cortana by now, but noooo.

 

[Vincent McLaughlin]

From the outside looking in, I would say it doesn't look good. History has shown that MS, with it's current direction, isn't too focused on consumer products. It's also hard for the average consumer to stand behind anything, when MS will say one thing and do something totally different.

Now, this isn't to say that it's all bad. This is, IMO, going to go one of two ways, because it doesn't make sense, otherwise. Either MS is tentatively going to be allowed to aquire Alexa for some ridiculous amount of money from Amazon, (unlikely) or MS is going to sell off Cortana to Amazon, which seems more likely. I would prefer Cortana to be able to gain more popularity and with that, more usefulness.

 

[Richard Toft]

I guess Cortana will be getting the axe soon...

I don't have any iOS/Apple so no Siri for me, please and thank you.

I won't Google Now. I put as few of my eggs into Google's basket as I can.


I use Cortana all the time on PC and Handset. If Microsoft is going to let it die off (like they do with so many things) and I have to move to something else I guess it would be Alexa. However, I wouldn't allow listening mode. Not sure I want Amazon sorting through my background sound. I hardly even use Hey Cortana anymore on PC (I just click the mic icon) and don't have it on my current Android Phone (listening, Cortana is my default assistant).


It really does seem that Microsoft is bound and determined to get rid of anything that is strictly consumer facing. I don't get it. And just when they had dedicated speakers trying to splash Cortana into the home. Harman Kardon must be peaved.

 

[sniperboywc]

Count Cortana as another failure under Nadella. He may not have started a lot of these projects but they became his responsibility when he took the job. Saddly, Microsoft is a sinking ship due to mismanagement.

 

[Richard Toft]

This is one of those tech trends I don't get, like the Nintendo switch (old tablet tech running proprietary average games) and Alexa (the talking toilet roll), I'm not sure what is happening here, Cortana has lost visibility to the public but the AI is doing loads in the application, when Cortana hit it was really advanced. MS has let her slip from public consciousness whilst working on productivity in the back ground, but it is the only AI assistant that made sense to me its on phone pc and tablet whereas the runaway success Alexa was a standalone speaker!? so for me MS solution is simple A: enable Cortana on every Bluetooth enabled speaker with a microphone from pc, tablet or phone and make get it back into the public mind make some cool features and its job done. Otherwise Alexa is just going to be Cortana's user interface and that gives all the great work ms has done under the cover to Amazon, not sure that's a great market strategy guys.

 

[Akira X]

It's just a matter of time before they minimize Cortona in some way, perhaps remove her from the OS integration and make her an optional feature.

 

[GreyFox7]

Goodbye Cortana, it was nice knowing you but Alexa is so much more.

 

[AndyCalling]

Well, it appears now that Cortana has lost the music, she'll be decoupled from search as well (what was that WC kept saying about Cortana won't go because she's indivisible from Bing? Ol' Nads was listening...). Since outside the US she can do little else but search anyway, that kinda leaves her twiddling her thumbs rather. This is what always happens when MS decides to 'focus' on anything. Get ready for a retrenching Cortana, it's time to lie back and think of England... ;-)

 

[koenshaku]

Yeah already stripped from listening to music this doesn't surprise me. The previous rumors of them selling off the Xbox division wouldn't even sound so far fetched now. Windows 10 S is pretty much RT all over again and again they don't even have a professional Office running as a modern UI. My faith as a consumer is at an all time low i'm still wondering what to replace my Lumia 950 with..

 

[Mark Kaplan]

What ever happened to the integration of Cortana/Alexa that was announced last year as coming by eoy? The functionality to Open Cortana on Alexa and reversed was supposed to be coming.

 

[EspHack]

lol I bet if Elop got elected as CEO he would make another "burning oil platform" open letter

 

[Williaml99]

Cortana Who? Windows Phone what? Grove What? Is OneDrive next?

 

[Wevenhuis]

I guess Cortana will be getting the axe soon...

I don't have any iOS/Apple so no Siri for me, please and thank you.

I won't Google Now. I put as few of my eggs into Google's basket as I can.


I use Cortana all the time on PC and Handset. If Microsoft is going to let it die off (like they do with so many things) and I have to move to something else I guess it would be Alexa. However, I wouldn't allow listening mode. Not sure I want Amazon sorting through my background sound. I hardly even use Hey Cortana anymore on PC (I just click the mic icon) and don't have it on my current Android Phone (listening, Cortana is my default assistant).


It really does seem that Microsoft is bound and determined to get rid of anything that is strictly consumer facing. I don't get it. And just when they had dedicated speakers trying to splash Cortana into the home. Harman Kardon must be peaved.

The main thing with all voice assistants I experience is lack of region and language support. As long as those issues are not adressed none of the AI assistants are of any interest or value. I just don't use them.

 

[pitoka]

MS never had the balls to stand by any of their products, recently they dumped Groove, before that Windows mobile. Oh yeah and with the loss of Groove, Cortana can't identify music anymore, so it's handycapped already. Nadella is just one big failure.

 

[sniperboywc]

Now is probably a good time to jump to google. You don't wanna be the last one out of a burning house and the smoke is getting pretty @#$% thick in here...