Microsoft Pushing Cortana To Work With Refrigerators, Thermostats And Almost Everything Else

While Microsoft is preparing for the release of Windows 10 IoT Core for a multitude of devices, the Redmond giant is also quietly pushing for the availability of Cortana in all the devices that the Windows 10 software variant will be supporting. This is based on the information Microsoft officials provided last week at WinHEC 2016 in Shenzhen that has come to light early this week.

In a presentation, entitled “Cortana and the Speech Platform,” Microsoft officials revealed to OEM partners what the company’s big move for its advanced voice assistant is all about. ZDNet has learned that the tech giant is preparing for its PCs and device partners to utilize the “Wake on Voice from Modern Standby” and “Far-field Voice” functionality of Cortana through the Creators Update that is arriving in Spring 2017.

The “Wake on Voice from Modern Standby” technology enables Cortana to control devices from their inactive state. Thus, users can turn on PCs and devices with this feature. As for the “Far-field Voice,” it is designed mainly to make Cortana capable of working in rooms that have ambient noise.

The Windows 10 IoT Core software is the Windows 10 variant for small devices that are powered by Intel and ARM chipsets. This software works for devices that may or may not have displays, like in the case of the Raspberry Pi 2 and the MinnowBoard Max. During the presentation last week, a slide even showed Cortana running on a refrigerator and a thermostat.

PhoneArena reports Microsoft seems to be focusing on making Cortana available on all sorts of devices. The phone-centric news site also pointed out that this could be the Redmond giant’s way of quietly bringing Cortana into homes without requiring consumers to buy a Microsoft home hub device. And this is not surprising, since Microsoft regards Cortana as a “truly personal digital assistant” that provides “proactive and personal assistance.”