Rollout of Nokia Cyan Windows Phone update has begun

The latest software update from Microsoft is currently making its way out of the gate at select markets. The Nokia Cyan Windows Phone 8.1 update carries with it some Nokia-exclusive improvements and features with Windows Phone 8.1 still the underlying OS. Users from Taiwan, Spain, and Finland have reported that they have been getting the update with the Lumia 625 being one of the first devices to get a taste of the new update. According to a recent tweet from an official Microsoft account, widespread release of the Nokia Cyan update will happen in the second week of July.

Source: Ubergizmo

Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8.1 OS at BUILD 2014

It only too three years, but Windows Phone finally has an answer to Apple's Siri personal assistant. Coming to the Windows Phone 8.1 OS update later, the Cortana personal assistant replaces Bing Search while integrating voice and contextual search across applications and Microsoft services. Windows Phone 8.1's features are outlined in this blog post.

Microsoft developing Siri-like personal assistant for Windows Phone, dubs it ‘Cortana’

Microsoft is testing and preparing a Windows Phone 8.1 update that will supposedly have a personal assistant with Siri-like features. It has been codenamed “Cortana” after the Halo character and will help Windows Phone users interact with their smartphones using voice commands. There is already a basic voice command feature for Windows Phone but Cortana is expected to have a system that will learn user’s preferences and adapt accordingly.

Based on additional screenshots obtained by The Verge, Microsoft is testing the feature’s ability to pull in weather info, notifications, and events into a central interface. Other features seen on the interface include location information and access to Bluetooth controls. It is expected that Microsoft will roll out the new operating system update in early 2014.