Overnight Major Nelson has announced that Cortana, Microsoft’s voice assistant in Windows 10, is coming to the Xbox this Summer (US Time). With the Xbox code base upgraded to Windows 10 some months ago, it paved the way for this to happen.
Having Cortana on the Xbox raises that ugly conversation about Kinect and the fact many recent Xbox One owners don’t actually have microphones that can take advantage of the update. Fortunately there is an alternative, and that’s to use a headset microphone.
Using a headset is obviously a single-person experience, so those using their Xbox as a media device in the lounge room really will want a Kinect.
Gone are the days of “Xbox On” and instead we’ll need to get familiar with “Hey Cortana” instead. Plenty households now have multiple Windows 10 devices now and it’ll be interesting to see all of our devices spring into action when we use our voice commands.
There are specific game-related Cortana actions like joining parties.
More information at Major Nelson.
