It seems Microsoft is planning to integrate its Outlook email client with Cortana on iOS. Elsewhere, the upcoming update will also add more voice options, including a male voice for the first time. Let’s start with Outlook, with an integration that is called “Play My Emails”. As that name suggests, this will allow Cortana to offer users a brief voice overview of their unread emails. During this readback, users will be able to flag conversations and sort mails through voice commands. As mentioned, a new “masculine” voice option is also coming to the virtual assistant. Interestingly, Cortana has never had this option so it will be an interesting addition. Sadly, the video posted by WalkingCat does not offer audio of this new voice option. https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1189884639386767361 The leak also points to an upcoming Cortana update for Windows, with a couple of new features in tow. Specifically, the assistant will get a “Briefing” mode. With this tool, users can have a daily synopsis of meetings and calendars sent to their inbox for Cortana to read.
Ongoing Support
Cortana is moving through an interesting period. There is no doubt the assistant has been bested in the market by rivals such as Alexa. Microsoft decided to transform the service into productivity assistant. How that translates to the mobile version of the app remains to be seen. Cortana will no longer be a big part of the consumer experience and has already been separated from Search. Microsoft recently updated the UI design of Cortana. Microsoft has been using this design in the Cortana beta that arrived on the Microsoft Store recently. This means Cortana is now separated from Windows 10 overall.
