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Whether or not you're a fan of Microsoft, you're more than likely familiar with the AI from the Halo series. Cortana, the name of the AI, was recently put on new Windows Phones as the voice assistant that would compete with Apple's Siri. Combined with Cortana already having her own little fan base, there are arguably a lot more features present on the Windows Phone voice assistant than there are on Apple's devices with Siri. With that said, it looks like the beloved AI will be making her way to your iOS and Android devices sooner than you think.

Cortana will be heading to iOS and Android devices not too long after the long awaited Windows 10 operating system is released to the general public. According to Reuters, the virtual assistant will be a standalone application that operates the same way as it does on a Windows Phone. For those who are unsure, that would mean that there is no further integration available to completely replace Siri with Cortana. The app will be available on the App Store and Google Play store respectively.



Some may not realize this off the bat from reading about this, but let me explain just a little bit about why this is an important decision being made by Microsoft in the smartphone world. Currently, Apple's Siri and Google Now are only available on their respective mobile operating systems (iOS and Android); you cannot have one on the other via the operating systems App Store. If Microsoft does in fact bring Cortana to iOS and Android, it would be the first large scale virtual voice assistant existing on multiple platforms. Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said last year that mobile would be a big part in his strategy. This isn't the first time we've seen Microsoft take this route either, recently Microsoft Office has become available on multiple platforms, including Apple's iOS devices.

Are you guys going to be using Cortana instead of Siri and Google Now? What do you think of the new moves Microsoft has been making? Let us know in the comments below! Also, thanks to Jedi for the topic suggestion.

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