Amazon and Microsoft to add voice assistant compatibility

Amazon and Microsoft have announced plans to add compatibility between their respective voice assistants, Alexa and Cortana, later this year.

Microsoft hailed the deal as a “first-of-its-kind collaboration” that will offer more choice, value and access to both personal assistants.

Consumers will be able to access Cortana on Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Show, and will initially be able to access Alexa via Cortana on Windows 10 PCs, with Android and iOS compatibility to follow in the future.

“The world is big and so multifaceted,” said Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos.

“There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialised skill areas.

“Together, their strengths will complement each other and provide customers with a richer and even more helpful experience. It’s great for Echo owners to get easy access to Cortana.”

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, said: “Ensuring Cortana is available for our customers everywhere and across any device is a key priority for us. Bringing Cortana’s knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments and reminders to Alexa is a great step toward that goal.”