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Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

blogs.wsj.com

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Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#11

Post by Artemis2 »

higherpurpose wrote: post #6
jimmcslim wrote: post #2

There's a subtle irony in that while Cortana can probably be more deeply integrated with Android than iOS, the same can't be said for Google Now on Windows Phone...

Yup. Android is still far more open than Windows Phone/mobile from that point of view, which is why it's possible for Microsoft to do many of these things with Android. Last I checked you couldn't even have another browser other than IE on Windows Phone, and I assume that won't change with Windows 10 mobile. Also you can make Android apps work on Windows or another OS relatively easy but the reverse isn't true (not c…

Android is open, Google is not at all. Google is actually pulling source code off AOSP (the actual open-source Android) to put more of it into their custom, closed-source applications. As a result, a base install of Android without all Google's services is very poor and pretty outdated. [0]

Most of the work Microsoft does on Android (and iOS) would easily be replicable by Google on Windows Phone: Office, Skype, OneDrive... are all apps that Google has competitors for on Android and iOS. Instead of playing the same game, Google chooses to be the evil one. [1]

0: http://www.infoworld.com/article/2610371/android/meet-aosp--...

1: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2013/08/15/the-lim...

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#12

Post by josu »

jedberg wrote: post #9

It's interesting that Microsoft seems to be using the same playbook they used with Windows -- make the software run everywhere and sell the software that goes with it. While Apple keeps using their playbook -- make software that goes with their hardware so that people buy the hardware. It will be interesting to see which one wins out this time. So far it's clearly Apple, but time will tell.

>It will be interesting to see which one wins out this time. So far it's clearly Apple, but time will tell.

If you want to compare apples to apples (no pun intended) you should take a look at software sales. So far, neither seems to be doing that well on mobile platforms. I have never bought a Microsoft nor an Apple app on my mobile devices.

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#13

Post by skybrian »

Artemis2 wrote: post #11
higherpurpose wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Android is still far more open than Windows Phone/mobile from that point of view, which is why it's possible for Microsoft to do many of these things with Android. Last I checked you couldn't even have another browser other than IE on Windows Phone, and I assume that won't change with Windows 10 mobile. Also you can make Android apps work on Windows or another OS relatively easy but the reverse isn't true (not c…

Android is open, Google is not at all. Google is actually pulling source code off AOSP (the actual open-source Android) to put more of it into their custom, closed-source applications. As a result, a base install of Android without all Google's services is very poor and pretty outdated. [0] Most of the work Microsoft does on Android (and iOS) would easily be replicable by Google on Windows Phone: Office, Skype, OneDr…

Some trends are in the opposite direction. Chromium for Android is mostly open source now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/36py7f/chrome_for_...

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#14

Post by tdicola »

Artemis2 wrote: post #11
higherpurpose wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Android is still far more open than Windows Phone/mobile from that point of view, which is why it's possible for Microsoft to do many of these things with Android. Last I checked you couldn't even have another browser other than IE on Windows Phone, and I assume that won't change with Windows 10 mobile. Also you can make Android apps work on Windows or another OS relatively easy but the reverse isn't true (not c…

Android is open, Google is not at all. Google is actually pulling source code off AOSP (the actual open-source Android) to put more of it into their custom, closed-source applications. As a result, a base install of Android without all Google's services is very poor and pretty outdated. [0] Most of the work Microsoft does on Android (and iOS) would easily be replicable by Google on Windows Phone: Office, Skype, OneDr…

That is an impressive spin. He's not talking about apps like Office, etc. he's talking about Windows Phone having less extensibility points than Android. Like being able to plug in 3rd party browsers, voice search/assistants, etc.

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#15

Post by zobzu »

Go Microsoft. This is the right move. Embrace. They had forgotten how, they're learning it again.

(and yes, extend, and possibly extinguish may still be next).

As a part-time Windows 10 and MS Band and Android/iOS user, I for one will happily use this.

And if I can integrate it for my own voice recognition needs in third party apps, all the better.

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#16

Post by soperj »

Redsquare wrote: post #7
jimmcslim wrote: post #2

There's a subtle irony in that while Cortana can probably be more deeply integrated with Android than iOS, the same can't be said for Google Now on Windows Phone...

Nor IE on any os apart from windows

Kind of wonder now why they don't cross platform IE?

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#17

Post by zobzu »

jedberg wrote: post #9

It's interesting that Microsoft seems to be using the same playbook they used with Windows -- make the software run everywhere and sell the software that goes with it. While Apple keeps using their playbook -- make software that goes with their hardware so that people buy the hardware. It will be interesting to see which one wins out this time. So far it's clearly Apple, but time will tell.

Arguably Apple has been playing it's playbook without any competition from MS so far (since MS started by copying Apple's strategy on mobile - which was obviously now an unrealistic move)

This on the other hand, looks like real competition - and competition is always exciting.

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#18

Post by yellowapple »

macspoofing wrote: post #4
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #3

One of the biggest advantages of Cortana was its ability to interface with third party application pretty much at launch (something Siri and Google Now still don't do much of). Going cross platform is awesome though I'm not sure if it'll be quite as useful. Realistically Microsoft could strike a deal and make an Android phone use Cortana by default (which might be really good) which would be quite interesting (especi…

>Realistically Microsoft could strike a deal and make an Android phone use Cortana by default Zero chance for Google doing it but maybe one of manufacturers or Cyanogen?

With Microsoft's recent friendliness to CyanogenMod, I'm thinking the latter is pretty likely. Combining this with a good competitor bundle to replace the "Google Apps" package that generally goes hand-in-hand with installing CyanogenMod on a phone (so including Outlook, a mobile Office, Cortana, some Bing stuff, etc.) would be at least a decent strategy. So, instead of downloading a "gapps" package to be flashed alongside CyanogenMod, a user could instead (or even in addition) download a "mapps" package that would give the user a more Microsofty experience. Hell, maybe Amazon could get in on this with an "aapps" package for things like their custom app store, Amazon Video/Music/Kindle, etc. (which would, granted, compete with their own forays into Android, but they already make these things available to normal Android devices anyway).

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#19

Post by yellowapple »

soperj wrote: post #16
Redsquare wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nor IE on any os apart from windows

Kind of wonder now why they don't cross platform IE?

They did, once upon a time; IE was available for Mac OS (pre-X, IIRC) and Unix back in the 90's.

Bringing back cross-platform IE is probably a lost cause nowadays, but a cross-platform Spartan is possible.

Re: Microsoft’s Cortana Headed to iPhone and Android Phones

#20

Post by yohui »

Artemis2 wrote: post #11
higherpurpose wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Android is still far more open than Windows Phone/mobile from that point of view, which is why it's possible for Microsoft to do many of these things with Android. Last I checked you couldn't even have another browser other than IE on Windows Phone, and I assume that won't change with Windows 10 mobile. Also you can make Android apps work on Windows or another OS relatively easy but the reverse isn't true (not c…

Android is open, Google is not at all. Google is actually pulling source code off AOSP (the actual open-source Android) to put more of it into their custom, closed-source applications. As a result, a base install of Android without all Google's services is very poor and pretty outdated. [0] Most of the work Microsoft does on Android (and iOS) would easily be replicable by Google on Windows Phone: Office, Skype, OneDr…

> As a result, a base install of Android without all Google's services is very poor and pretty outdated.

You can install AOSP or custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod and have a perfectly free, modern smartphone OS. You won't have access to all the Android apps in the Google Play Store, but that's self-evident. The F-Droid repo provides verified FOSS apps, or if non-Google proprietary sources are permitted there's the Amazon Appstore.

> Most of the work Microsoft does on Android (and iOS) would easily be replicable by Google on Windows Phone: Office, Skype, OneDrive... are all apps that Google has competitors for on Android and iOS.

The app in question, Cortana, will be able to integrate into Android at least as deeply as the Bing app does now, which means it can replace Google search in most ways. If Microsoft had an Android launcher, they could ensure Google is completely replaced (by supplanting Google Now). Combined with Microsoft's existing Android lock screen and other apps, all that's needed to complete the Microsoft Android experience is Windows Store for Android.

On the other hand, the closest you can get to replacing Cortana on Windows Phone is to disable Cortana completely, which means queries will be handled by the search engine in your default browser instead. IE is the only browser option, but you can choose either Google or Bing (except on phones that disable the Google option).

Google does achieve remarkable results on iOS despite its restrictions. But that simply demonstrates the monumental effort it would take to bring a sub-par version of the Google experience to a locked-down platform, whereas Microsoft can take over Android with relative ease. iOS has marketshare and legacy ties to justify the expense, but WP has neither.

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