ANDROID

Microsoft's Cortana Is Coming To Android And IPhone

Starting in June, you'll be able to download Cortana as an app on your Galaxy or iPhone even if you'd rather die than use Windows. The rumors are true: Microsoft is giving the non-Windows crowd a taste of its powerful voice assistant, bringing Cortana to Android and iOS.

People love Cortana so much, some developers have already created a ported version for Android called "Portaña." This switch to multi-platform availability will make Cortana seem more like a standalone product than a Windows feature. And Cortana has been getting increasingly sophisticated, so this could be a real threat to Siri and Google Now.

There is a catch, though: The Android and iOS versions of Cortana will be limited for people who don't have a Windows device. You'll won't be able to say "Hey, Cortana" to activate the voice assistant hands-free, and you won't be able to open apps or toggle settings, since there won't be the same level of integration.

Even watered-down, it'll be interesting to see how Cortana stacks up to competitors' native voice assistants. I'm also curious if it'll be possible to run Siri and Cortana at the same time on one device, but I'll have to wait until the app is officially released before I mess around with it.