UPDATE: An Amazon press release is now available too. It doesn’t add any new information, but I’ve pulled some quotes from the CEOs of Amazon and Microsoft below. –Paul
UPDATE 2: Microsoft has now posted something about the integration too. See below for more details. —Paul
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Over a year ago, Microsoft secretly agreed to partner with Amazon to integrate their digital personal assistants. And while it’s unclear what form this integration will take as I write this, we should learn more later today.
News of the partnership arrives via a New York Times report, which notes that users will be able to summon Cortana using Alexa, and vice versa, “by the end of the year.”
According to the publication, the integration is coming about because Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos realized that Cortana offered unique features related to Microsoft Outlook and Office that Amazon’s Alexa asked. So he reached out to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in May 2016. Nadella, unsurprisingly, was receptive.
“The personality and expertise of each [assistant] will be such that if they interoperated, the user will get more out of it,” Mr. Nadella told The New York Times. “That resonated for me and for [Mr. Bezos], and then that’s what led to the teams working.”
Neither company has reached out to Google and Apple, the other two major firms working on digital personal assistants and smart speakers. The New York Times speculates that each would reject a similar partnership, but Apple, in particular, could use the help. But Nadella is hopeful.
“I’d welcome it,” he said. “Hopefully, [Apple and Google] will be inspired by [our partnership with Amazon]. At least that would be my hope.”
Initially, the Cortana/Alexa integration will be “awkward,” The New York Times says. A user working with an Alexa device will have to say “Alexa, open Cortana” and then issue a new command for Microsoft’s assistant. Likewise, that rare person using Cortana will have to say “Cortana, open Alexa.”
And that, fundamentally, is the issue. No, not the awkwardness. I’m sure that will be addressed over time. No, Cortana’s almost non-existent position in the market.
As you must know, Amazon holds a commanding lead in the digital personal assistant market, with over 70 percent usage share. Apple will always have some position as well, if only because of the dedication of its fans. And Google is racing forward with Google Assistant, which should seize some major piece of this pie simply through the search giant’s expertise and acumen.
But Microsoft? Cortana first launched on the failed Windows phone platform, so it’s like it never happened. And because it’s relegated to Windows 10 on PCs today, Cortana is basically a non-starter. Less than one-third of Windows 10 users even bother to use the technology.
So the issue for Microsoft is that Cortana just becomes one of many, many skills on Alexa. Whereas Cortana becomes just another way to use Alexa. In other words, while the news of this partnership is fascinating and unexpected, it may not actually change the dynamics of this market, which today revolve around three major players, none named Microsoft. (And, I’ve deliberately left Samsung out of this conversation, but it has its own assistant, named Bixby.)
And Bezos hints at this future in The New York Times piece. He predicts that the primary assistant on a device will be smart enough to automatically route a person’s request to whichever assistant is best equipped to answer, without needing a verbal introduction between the two.
“In my view of the world, because that would be best for the customer, that’s probably what eventually happens,” he says.
“Ensuring Cortana is available for our customers everywhere and across any device is a key priority for us,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “Bringing Cortana’s knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments, and reminders to Alexa is a great step toward that goal.”
“The world is big and so multifaceted. There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas. Together, their strengths will complement each other and provide customers with a richer and even more helpful experience,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO, Amazon. “It’s great for Echo owners to get easy access to Cortana.”
The Microsoft post notes that “this collaboration will allow you to access Alexa via Cortana on Windows 10 PCs later this year, followed by Android and iOS in the future.” It also notes that you will be able to access Cortana on Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show. But doesn’t explain the timeline for that.
“Cortana users will be able to have Alexa shop on Amazon.com and manage their Amazon orders and access many of Alexa’s third-party skills by asking Cortana to open Alexa, just as Alexa users will have access to Cortana’s world knowledge and helpful productivity features such as calendar management, day at a glance and location-based reminders simply by asking Alexa to open Cortana,” Microsoft corporate vice president Andrew Shuman adds.
Stooks
<blockquote><a href="#169728"><em>In reply to SteveM:</em></a></blockquote><p>I could not agree more. I know he does not like…..Cortona, Groove, Windows 10S, Edge, Skype, Windows Phone. He has recently mentioned coming back to Onedrive but it was Dropbox this and that before. He is a huge fan of basically everything Google.</p><p><br></p><p>Between this negative Microsoft attitude and many technical "mistakes" on the subject matter…..why would someone subscribe to this site?</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><a href="#169740"><em>In reply to calarez:</em></a></blockquote><p>Your right I could quit coming here. And I have been less and less because of his attitude. Personally I prefer to go to sites focused on the topic I am wanting get information about, especially those that are "enthusiasts" since they tend to get deeper into the topics.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
Stooks
<blockquote><a href="#169785"><em>In reply to LocalPCGuy:</em></a></blockquote><p>"His belief that Windows 10 S will be painful for many is the same view of it."</p><p><br></p><p>Paul is so far off base with Windows 10S. Most bloggers are. I think they know that but need "blog fill"</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft Introduced Windows 10S at a EDUCATION event. The target audience is schools that already use Microsoft products or schools that might be wanting to leave Microsoft for Google to save money. It never was targeted at consumers or business. Every negative point he makes about it does not matter to a school that uses Microsoft products. So what if the students want Chrome on the school computer….if Edge works end of conversation.</p><p><br></p><p>Windows 10S is limited by design for its designed target user base.</p>
BrianEricFord
<p>This feels eerily similar to Steve Jobs bringing in John Sculley.</p><p><br></p><p>The way I heard it was Cortana asked Alexa if she wanted to sell organic groceries for the rest of her life or if she wanted to change the world.</p>
Stooks
<p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Cortana is basically a non-starter"</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Paul is there anything that Microsoft makes that you actually like? Yesterday you told us how you don't like Groove. You are not a fan of Windows 10 S that is for sure. You quit using Word to write.</span></p><p><br></p><p>However we do know you love a lot of Google products. Maybe your blog should focus on Google instead of Microsoft? You could be a regular on "This Week in Google". Then again that show is nothing but politics or has been the last 6 months.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
Bats
<p>Does this mean that Brad's kitchen device will be an echo rather than the Harmon Kardon product?</p>
Bats
<p>It's funny how Microsoft is trying to stick Cortana everywhere. </p><p>This leeching strategy is quite interesting. I don't know if it's working though. NO ONE ever talks about Cortana, ever. Obviously, that's not possible to know since "the home" is purely the only domain where Cortana can dominion over. More specifically, that ONE room. With that said this Amazon-Microsoft partnership is very interesting. </p><p>Let's face it. Microsoft has no choice but to leech. No one is using Cortana…. and for good reason. Cortana is kinda dumb. You talk about performace consistency, The Google Assistant is hard to beat. Look what happened to me Sunday night/Monday morning. I had my HP Spectre X2, beside me on my nightstand. I said, "Hey Cortana…who is the actor who played Rhaegar Targaryan on Game of Thrones?" For some reason, Cortana though I was asking about a company called Raymour and Flanigan. I can see it type Raymour and Flanigan and returning the search results on Bing. I asked 3 more times, and all I got were 3 more fails. However, I asked Google on google.com and it got it right in one shot. To be honest, I did not get the answer from the voice queiries, but I can clearly see that Google got it right, while Cortana thought I was asking for a furniture store.</p><p>Also, last night…I decided to play the Doctor Who Game on Skype, what another fail. I assume that Cortana is behind the Skype bot? Anyway, the Bot (as Peter Capaldi) asked me if I want to move forward with the game and I said no. It continued anyway, thinking I said "Yes." I've played with the Google Assistant on Google Allo,…OMG….totally better! It's like talking to a real person.</p><p>The point of all this is this…Cortana, like Windows 10 S, is not ready. I see this Amazon/Microsoft partnership where Amazon has the most to gain and Microsoft…nothing. Amazon has already stated that they are going to improve the Echo for music. If this is the case and Amazon is the leader in this space, who is gonna buy the Microsoft's Harmon Kardon device? </p><p>In this relationship, Amazon is clearly the alpha with Microsoft being the beta. CLEARLY! Amazon has the goods and services, they have the music, they have the video, they practically have everything. All Microsoft has is, Office. This partnership definitely favors Amazon.</p>