will help you connect your Windows PC to whatever phone you own - whether it's a Windows phone, Android phone, or iPhone," promised Belfiore. Photos taken on an iPhone, for example, will sync with the Photos app on Windows 10, while music stored on OneDrive will be playable on an Android or iOS device.
Phone Companion will walk Android and iOS device owners through the steps of acquiring apps such as Cortana, Office, OneDrive OneNote, Outlook and Skype, and if available, set up data synchronization between Windows 10 and non-Windows smartphones or tablets.
"You can really only do that if it's part of mobile, and Android and iOS are the ones people use."Īlso today, Belfiore revealed that Windows 10 for desktops will come with a "Phone Companion" app that will promote not only Cortana, but other Microsoft services - and their necessary Android and iOS apps. "The reality is that Cortana can have a very limited impact as long as it happens on just Windows Phone," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst with Jackdaw Research. Cortana has been a prime differentiator of Windows on mobile, the crown jewel, and porting part of it to competitive platforms again illustrates the break by CEO Satya Nadella with the Gates-Ballmer eras. Along with other major moves - the March 2014 release of Office on iPad was only the first - Microsoft has showed it's serious. "For Windows users, who are the overwhelming majority of desktop users, this extends features in Windows 10 and makes those available even if they're not Windows Phone users."īy offering Cortana, even in a stripped-functionality form, and native Android and iOS apps for other services, Microsoft is executing on its stated "cloud-first, mobile-first" strategy. "This is a mixture of pragmatism and promotion," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research. He might as well have said "never will be possible," at least with iOS: By past practice, Apple will not let third-party apps replicate the capabilities within its own Siri assistant, for example. "Some features require access to the system that aren't currently possible with iOS or Android," he said. The apps will not feature Cortana's voice-activated functionality, as in, "Hey, Cortana."īelfiore blamed Google and Apple for the limitations. Those things Cortana will do on rival platforms include reminder notifications, notebook syncing and flight tracking. "The Cortana app can do most of the things Cortana does on your PC or on a Windows phone," said Belfiore. Rumors circulated in March that Microsoft would soon issue Cortana apps for Android and iOS, talk sparked by a Reuters report that cited unnamed sources.
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