Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. recently announced collaboration between their respective digital personal assistants – Cortana and Alexa.
This first-of-its-kind of partnership will offer more choice, value and accessibility to users of both personal assistants.
The feature which will be available later this year, will let Alexa summon Cortana via Amazon Echo device, and Cortana connect with Alexa through Windows 10 enabled devices. The company plans to extend this accessibility to Android and iOS in the future.
While big tech companies like Apple, IBM and even Microsoft and Google are pouring huge amounts of money to develop intelligent voice-controlled personal assistants, to stand out from each other, this partnership will prove to be a game changer.
“Ensuring Cortana is available for our customers everywhere and across any device is a key priority for us. Bringing Cortana’s knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments and reminders to Alexa is a great step toward that goal,” said Satya Nadella, CEO – Microsoft, in an official press release of Amazon.
Through this partnership, the two tech giants aim to help people realize the true potential of virtual assistants by making them work together. As, they believe that each assistant has some unique features that could be beneficial for other assistants.
While Alexa is good with assisting users during shopping from Amazon, Cortana is a true help for professionals. The collaboration will help people manage their personal and professional lives at the same moment.
Microsoft claims 145 million monthly users for Cortana, while Alexa powered Echo Devices by Amazon rules the smart speaker’s market.
By combining forces, the users will certainly get huge benefits.
However, the two assistants will not be able to access each other’s data due to being walled off.
