Microsoft may be working to bring its Cortana digital assistant to both the mobile and desktop versions of Office. Cortana was first introduced with Windows Phone 8.1 and has recently been added to the Windows 10 Technical Preview.
According to The Verge, Microsoft is testing a Windows Phone app called Work Assistant that will be able to open, edit and share Office documents via Cortana-based voice commands. The app itself has a listing on the Windows Phone Store site but the listing shows that it's a prototype that's currently only for internal Microsoft use.
The prospect of Cortana being built into a future version of Office brings back memories of "Clippy", the animated paper clip that was supposed to offer tips for users of the software in the 1990s. However, Clippy ended up being more of an annoying presence rather than the helpful assistant that was first envisioned by Microsoft. Ironically, the Clippy icon can replace the regular Cortana logo in a Windows Phone 8.1 Easter Egg. Never say Microsoft doesn't have a sense of humor.
There's no indication on when or which of Cortana's features will be added to Office, and there's also no word if that support will be extended to the iOS and Android versions of the software suite. However, we expect that we will learn a lot more about Microsoft's plans in this area as part of its Build 2015 developers conference, to be held in San Francisco from April 29-May 1.
Source | TheVerge
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