Cortana Builds Windows 10 PC And Android Phone Relationship

When Windows 10 released for PC and Windows phones, it had a lot of dreams and promises. Some promises are maybe too huge for Windows 10 to handle right now, but some are immensely promising and innovative. People nowadays use laptops and smartphones interchangeably, cooperatively, and Apple had its foot on the door with the OS X and iOS, but it was lacking in so many ways. Windows 8 tried to create a bond between Windows devices with the Windows account (which was so irritating at first), but it also fell short.

Now, Windows 10 is trying to succeed in this endeavor. Only months into its conception, things are looking pretty good — and Cortana has a lot to do with it.

Cortana is the AI assistant for Windows 10 devices that launched alongside Windows 10. Windows 10’s Cortana, when it launched, was only available for Windows 10 PCs, laptops, and smartphones, but that is changing quite quickly.

In December, Cortana already became available to Android and iOS. Cortana’s compatibility with iOS can be doubted, of course, since iOS’ Siri remains to be the preference. Android’s compatibility with Cortana, however, is looking good.

Windows 10 strives to be an ecosystem—that is, to create a harmonious and co-existing relationship among its platforms. Windows 10 for PC is pretty much set, but the problem arises in the relationship that it wants to establish with the Windows 10 user’s smartphone. Let’s admit it, Windows phones are not exactly the preferred phones in the market, so Windows 10 found it had to extend its reach to Android and iOS if it wanted to succeed in creating that digital ecosystem. With Windows 10’s Cortana arriving in Android and iOS, the solution is getting nearer.

However, while Cortana arrived on these two smartphone OS’s before 2015 ended, as of this writing, only Android Cortana has advanced in terms of PC-smartphone relationship. We found three interesting features of Cortana which builds a great and pretty handy relationship between a Windows 10 PC and Android smartphone.

Cortana is able to notify you on your Windows 10 PC if your phone registered a missed call. If you left your phone lying around the kitchen or the living room while you’re working with your Windows 10 laptop at the bedroom, and a friend suddenly drops a call and you miss it, Cortana will inform you of the missed call on your laptop.

And if you’re just too “busy” to get up and retrieve your phone, Cortana can help you send a text message to your friend to inform them why you missed their call. With a simple “send a text” command to Cortana, she can let you send a message to anyone—as long as they are recorded in your phone’s contact list, that is—without touching your handset. Just the perfect sync between a Windows 10 laptop and Android phone if you’re the kind of person who encounters these too-busy-to-get-up scenarios.

If you’re also fond of setting up reminders on your smartphone to remind you of birthdays or shopping lists, Windows 10 has created a way for you to never miss a reminder. If you’re working on your Windows 10 PC and happen to miss a reminder alert from your smartphone, Cortana will enable a pop-up on your PC to inform you of the reminder. Another interesting feature is that you could snooze the reminders from your Windows 10 PC to a few minutes or hours if you’re not yet ready to attend to them.

Basically, the relationship that Cortana is setting up between your Windows 10 PC and your Android smartphone is a relationship that enables you to not miss a beat when you’re on the other device. Cortana has not yet arrived on Xbox One (but she’s making her way there soon), and we’re already excited what this could mean for the Windows 10 ecosystem.

[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]