Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 with Cortana will be available as an ‘alpha’ build in the preview release for India
Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president and manager for Windows Phone Program Management at Microsoft, has exposed that the Redmond giant’s voice-based virtual assistant, Cortana will see the light of day starting next week. Belfiore, in his official blog, stated that Cortana will be coming to countries including India, China, Canada, Australia and the UK with the let go of Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1.
The Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 will initially be available in preview form for developers beginning next week. A gradual rolled-out to devices running Windows Phone 8.1 is probable in the coming months. “Today I am in China to talk about how we’re continuing this vision in the very first update to Windows Phone 8.1, which we’re making available in preview form for developers next week. This update has some great new features for everyone around the world, and in particular we also included some that were completely customised for and by people in China.” wrote Belfiore. It must be noted here that the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 with Cortana will be available as an ‘alpha’ build in the preview release for India and others. However, Chine and the UK will see a ‘beta’ varian of the same.
“We know there has been a lot of eagerness about Cortana in many other markets, and we wanted to give more people the ability to start using Cortana. Therefore, we’re also starting a new “alpha” program in three countries: Canada, India, and Australia. This early adopter program will be opt-in and give people the ability to try Cortana using English language models from the US and the UK.” Belfiore further informed. Meanwhile, the Windows Phone 8.1 Update will bring in a slew of new features and improvements to the platform.
