Microsoft brings Cortana to India with Indian voice and accent support

Microsoft has released its voice-based virtual assistant, Cortana in India for Windows 10 users. The feature comes as part of the major Windows 10 November update that the company rolled out on November 12. Cortana was also made available in Japan, Australia, and Canada as well.

For India, Micorosoft has customized Cortana, with an Indian voice, and the ability to understand Indian language. It also features improved India-specific knowledge bases, with Microsoft giving the example of cricket and golgappas.

With Cortana, Indian users can find out which movies are playing the theaters nearby and book tickets via BookMyShow. You can also get updates on upcoming meetings as well as glance over the participants and meeting attachments to quickly reschedule the meeting, should that be a requirement. Cortana will also bring daily horoscope prediction and let you take selfies using voice commands.

It also recognises Indian festivals and customs. For example, when asked what it thinks of the Festival of Light, Cortana says- “in the courtyard of AI imagination, I would light up a thousand diyas.”. In addition, it lets you set reminders, play songs and more. At present Cortana for Indian users only understand English language.

If you have upgraded to Windows 10, you will find Cortana for India in the search bar right next to the Start button. In addition to the rollout of Cortana, the November update to Windows 10 also comes with improved Edge browser and enhanced operating system's performance.