In what is nothing short of a surprise move, Amazon and Microsoft have agreed to integrate their digital assistants – Alexa and Cortana. Under the integration arrangement, Alexa users will be able to access Cortana, and vice versa on a range of devices, although the integration looks like it will be a little awkward initially.
The New York Times reported that someone using an Alexa device will have to say “Alexa, open Cortana” to get to talk to Microsoft’s digital assistant, and someone using Cortana will have to say “Cortana, open Alexa” to talk to Amazon’s. It appears that both companies have simply created skills on each others platforms to enable the basic integration.
With this cross-platform integration, Alexa users can now access some of the more unique aspects of Cortana. Microsoft has built its digital assistant more directly into its Office products, and now Alexa will get that functionality via Cortana — accessing work calendars and email, for example. While Microsoft is still tempting developers to create their own Cortana skills, existing Cortana users will be able to call up Alexa to get access to the ones that Cortana is missing. This might mean controlling smart home devices, or shopping on Amazon.
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