Skip to main content

Microsoft Cortana gradually gains ground on Alexa with new integrations

Cortana
Cortana Image used with permission by copyright holder

Alexa may be the most familiar name in the smart home game, but competitors are slowly but surely improving their own capabilities in hopes of gaining ground. Most recently, Microsoft’s Cortana announced its compatibility with more smart home providers, as well as If This Then That (IFTTT), making it easier for users to control smart home devices from anywhere at anytime.

In October 2017, Cortana began pushing out integrations with a number of smart home platforms, including Samsung SmartThings, Nest, Philips Hue, Wink, and Insteon. And now, the Microsoft smart assistant is growing that roster yet again with devices from ecobee, Honeywell Lyrics, Honeywell Total Connect Comfort, LIFX, TP-Link Kasa, and Geeni. All of these smart devices can be controlled by way of Cortana on Windows 10, iPhone, Android, or the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker.

Recommended Videos

You’ll be able to use Cortana much like you would any other smart home assistant. For example, if you’re looking to set the temperature at home while you’re still at work, simply tap Cortana on your PC and say, “Hey Cortana, set the living room thermostat to 72 degrees.” This will trigger your ecobee, Honeywell Lyric, or Honeywell Total Connect Comfort thermostat to instantly adjust the temperature. Or, if you’re running out of your house in the morning and forget to turn off the bedroom lights, simply open the Cortana app on your phone and say, “Hey Cortana, turn off the lights,” and she’ll take care of it.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

And thanks to the platform’s integration with slim smart plugs by TP-Link, you can easily turn off plugged-in devices like a space heater or a hair curler. Just say, “Hey Cortana, turn off the heater,” and your TP-Link will automatically shut down (and shut down anything plugged into it).

Perhaps more exciting still is the news that Cortana now works with IFTTT, which works with 600 services from providers across a wide range of specialties. As the Cortana team notes in a blog post, “Using IFTTT, you will be able to customize your experience by creating your own phrases to use with services on IFTTT.” And thanks to Applets, you can trigger multiple actions with a single command. So if you say, “Hey Cortana, movie time” the smart assistant will turn down your Hue lights, turn on your Harmony TV, and set your Nest Thermostat to the right temperature.

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
New Microsoft modular accessories make PCs usable for anyone
The new Microsoft adaptive accessories kit

At its annual Microsoft Ability Summit, Microsoft announced its Adaptive Accessories, a new series of products aimed at making PCs more inclusive for people whom a traditional mouse and keyboard aren't all that helpful.

The first of the highly modular components is the Microsoft Adaptive Mouse. This new mouse can be adapted to fit one's needs by adding mouse tail and thumb support, as well as 3D-printed tails for an even more customized setup. Unlike many products of this type, Microsoft says its new Adaptive Mouse still manages to be both light and portable. There's even a thumb support accessory that can easily switch sides for both left-handed  and right-handed folks.

Read more
Microsoft responds to hack of Cortana and Bing source code
Close-up of hands on a laptop keyboard in a dark room.

A hacking group has hit Microsoft, getting into Azure DevOps source code repositories and leaking source code for Cortana and several other Microsoft projects. It is the latest round of attacks by the group going by the name of "LAPSUS$," which also successfully targeted Nvidia, Ubisoft, and other large technology giants.

The latest update from the group, coming on March 22, includes the sharing of a 9GB archive, which has source code for 250 Microsoft projects. Of those, the group claims to have 90% of the source code for Bing, and 45% of the source code for Bing Maps and Cortana. This is only some of the hacked data, with the full archive having 37GB of Microsoft source code.

Read more
Hey, Bingo? Steve Ballmer nearly changed Cortana’s name in last act at Microsoft
cortana is dead hi im feat 123521532

Cortana's halo might now be dim, but there once was a time when the virtual assistant could have gone by the much more silly name of Bingo. That's all according to a newsletter written by a former Microsoft employee that gets into the origins of Cortana, its struggles, and more.

The newsletter is quite in-depth. In it, former Microsoft program manager Sandeep Paruchuri discusses how former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in his last act as CEO, just before handing off his duties to Satya Nadella, renamed the entire Cortana experience to the Microsoft Bing-branded "Bingo." Fortunately, Nadella then came along, the Cortana team waited things out, and Cortana got to keep its name as the development team intended.

Read more