When Windows 10 launches next week, Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant will be coming to the U.S., UK, China, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. And now Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Insider members from six more countries will get Cortana, as well. These include Australia, Canada (English only), India (English) and Japan in the “coming months.” and Brazil, Mexico and French-speaking Canadians later this year. Even if Cortana is also going to be available in English in India, Australia and Canada, it takes such a long while to bring it to them because Microsoft is busy working on local customization which puts into focus each individual country and culture. Marcus Ash, the Group Program Manager for Cortana, said the following: Cortana is customized to reflect the local language, idioms and speech patterns of each country. We craft Cortana’s local personality based on insights about each culture while at the same time staying true to the foundational principles that are universal to all markets: Cortana is positive, confident, intelligent and transparent. He then further adds some examples that show how Cortana is offering a unique and tailored experienced to users in the countries where it’s going to be available: Cortana understands how highly the UK values self-deprecating humor. In Italy, Cortana is proud of national identity. In France, Cortana celebrates the Cannes Film Festival. In Canada, Cortana loves hockey, and in India, Cortana celebrates cricket star and national hero Sachin Tendulkar. And in Japan, a high level of politeness is valued; Cortana will bow by default.
