Microsoft is working to bring Cortana to the suite of Office applications. The company is building a new app called “Work Assistant” and it’s already listed in the Windows Phone Store with the Office logo. The app is designed to assist users to open, edit, and share documents using simple voice commands.
Work Assistant is currently a prototype app only available internally, and sources familiar to the project claim that the app is an attempt to integrate Cortana into Office on mobile and desktop devices running Windows 10.
It’s also important to note that this could also be Microsoft’s Trojan horse to bring Cortana into iOS and Android in a near future, or at least a set of very basic features of the digital assistant. Considering that Microsoft is still focus on making its products and services available and well supported across platform, especially on iOS and Android.
Mary Jo Foley from ZDNet also reports that “Work Assistant” could also be one of the projects Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates is involved in, led by Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft’s chief experience officer of applications and services team.
No too long ago, Bill Gates mentioned to be working on “personal assistant” project within the company, which he described as a software to help users manage and organize data by recalling information to help you go back and find things and assist you to pick what things you are most interested in.
Cortana integration into Office shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, as the software maker has been expanding its digital assistant across platforms. She first arrived in phones, now she is part of the desktop version of Windows 10, Microsoft’s Spartan web browser will also feature Cortana, and now Cortana is headed to Office.
Source ZDNet, The Verge, Windows Phone Store
