In August last year, Amazon and Microsoft announced an unlikely alliance when they decided to integrate their respective voice assistants- Alexa and Cortana. The ability will let the two digital assistants communicate with each other, possibly setting an industry-wide precedent.
The two companies had claimed that the integration would be arriving late last year, but 2017 has passed and we have yet to hear of any updates on the functionality. Brad Sams from Thurrott.com contacted the corporations, but their responses did not provide any real insights into the progress of the project.
Microsoft"s spokesperson claimed that the company "will have more to share soon" while Amazon insisted that they are "working on it and expect to begin rolling it out soon". This move brings a unique opportunity of applying the technological prowess of two tech giants on your device without having to open separate applications.
Both digital assistants saw their own hardware releases last year with Cortana powering Harman Kardon while Alexa reprised its role as the digital assistant on 2017"s Echo iterations. This will not only increase the domain of their usage but once the integration takes place, the learning curve could potentially be a much more efficient one. We expect to hear more in the coming week, once CES commences.
Source: Thurrott