Microsoft's Cortana Now Shows More Categories of Interests in India

The virtual assistant now includes new categories of interests such as daily routine, music, food, fitness, and finance among others. Until now, Cortana just included two categories for news and weather. As of now, it is not clear whether the new category was rolled out via an update or has been added by the company directly. The update was first reported by Windows Central.

To recall, Microsoft's Cortana virtual assistant last year reached countries including India, China, Canada, Australia and the UK, with the release of Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1. Cortana became available in China and the UK as a 'beta' version, while in India, Canada, and Australia it was available as an 'alpha' version.

(Also see: Microsoft's Cortana vs. Apple's Siri vs. Google Now)

Microsoft, as previously promised, will be launching Cortana on Android and iOS platforms. The company last month announced that it would bring the Cortana Beta app for Android "starting July". One of the highlights of Cortana is that it would act as a companion app that will help users connect their Windows PC to whatever phone they own - whether it's Windows Phone, Android, or iPhone.

Cortana is Microsoft's answer to Google Now that aims to provide users information as and when it might be needed. On Windows, Cortana is tied heavily to Microsoft services, and the experience on Android and iPhone is expected to be limited in comparison, similar to how Google Now is crippled on iOS. However, users will still be able to use services like intelligent reminders and Cortana notes that sync across multiple devices.

Last month, a report suggested that Microsoft will make its presence felt in the Indian market with the launch of high-end Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, expected to be soon after the launch of Windows 10 Mobile later this year.