It’s hard building a search engine from scratch, which is probably why privacy-centric web browser DuckDuckGo relies on Bing for its search index. But when privacy-focused browser company Brave launched a search engine a few years ago, the company did build its own search index… but still relied on Bing for image and video search. Now […]
cortana
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Microsoft is pulling the plug on Cortana for Windows
Microsoft’s Cortana app was supposed to be the company’s answer to Siri or Google Assistant, and then some. But to me it’s always just been that annoyingly loud voice you hear that offers to help you through the setup process of a new PC until you silence it. Soon that voice will go silent for […]
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2 Comments on Lilbits: Computex and Cortana canceled (kinda), postmarketOS updated, and streaming Xbox games to smartphones
Lilbits: Computex and Cortana canceled (kinda), postmarketOS updated, and streaming Xbox games to smartphones
2 Comments on Lilbits: Computex and Cortana canceled (kinda), postmarketOS updated, and streaming Xbox games to smartphonesThe global COVID-19 vaccination rollout is underway, but so is the spread of new, more contagious variants of disease. So it’s unclear when things will get back to “normal,” whatever that means. But one thing seems pretty clear at this point: June is probably too soon to hold an international trade show that typically brings […]
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Lilbits: Qualcomm’s current and next-gen laptop chips, Google Voice loses a key feature
3 Comments on Lilbits: Qualcomm’s current and next-gen laptop chips, Google Voice loses a key featureWindows laptops with Qualcomm Snapdragon processors have been around for a few years… but they’ve offered generally underwhelming performance, especially now that Apple has shown that laptops with ARM-based processors can be much faster than equivalent models with x86 chips. But Qualcomm isn’t done making laptop processors. Details about an upcoming chip are starting to […]
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Microsoft is pulling the plug on Cortana for Android, iOS, and the Harman Kardon Invoke smart speaker
7 Comments on Microsoft is pulling the plug on Cortana for Android, iOS, and the Harman Kardon Invoke smart speakerMicrosoft’s Cortana virtual assistant software isn’t exactly dead, but it’s not exactly living its best life either. Earlier this year Microsoft announced that it was killing off some key features including support for third-party Cortana skills and support for using Cortana to control music playback and smart home devices. Now Microsoft has confirmed that all […]
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Microsoft Edge is dead, long live Microsoft Edge Chromium (and other Windows 10 features killed off in the May 2020 Update)
10 Comments on Microsoft Edge is dead, long live Microsoft Edge Chromium (and other Windows 10 features killed off in the May 2020 Update)Microsoft started rolling out Windows 10 version 2004 this week, also known as the Windows 10 May 2020 Update. And while there are a bunch of new features, Microsoft is also killing off a bunch of older features. The company has posted a list of Windows 10 features and functionality that have been removed from […]
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Microsoft Cortana is losing music and smart home features (in shift to productivity aid)
3 Comments on Microsoft Cortana is losing music and smart home features (in shift to productivity aid)Cortana started off looking like Microsoft’s answer to Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. These days it’s looking… a lot less useful. Microsoft has announced a few new scheduling and task management features for voice and keyboard users… but the company has also revealed that it’s pulling the plug on a whole bunch of other features. […]
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The only Cortana-powered smart speaker seems to be on the fritz
Apple has Siri. Amazon has Alexa. Google has Assistant. Samsung has… Bixby, I guess. And Microsoft has Cortana. But Microsoft’s voice assistant never really took off the same way as its competition, despite coming pre-loaded on millions of Windows PCs. Recently Microsoft announced it was killing its standalone Cortana apps for smartphones. And now it […]
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Microsoft is killing its standalone Cortana apps for Android & iOS (in some regions, at least)
1 Comment on Microsoft is killing its standalone Cortana apps for Android & iOS (in some regions, at least)Microsoft is pulling the plug on its Cortana apps for Android and iOS according to supports pages on the Microsoft Australia, Canada, and UK websites. It’s possible the app will live on in the US and other markets, but I’m not holding my breath. Does this mean Microsoft is giving up on supporting the smartphone […]
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Microsoft’s new Cortana strategy: Embrace, extend, and if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em
6 Comments on Microsoft’s new Cortana strategy: Embrace, extend, and if you can’t beat ’em, join ’emVoice assistants were everywhere at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, where hundreds of new products featuring Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant technology made their debut. You know what you didn’t hear much about? Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant. There’s only a single smart speaker that ever shipped with Cortana baked in (and it’s currently selling for […]