Microsoft's Cortana assistant now available on Android in the US

The battle for personal assistand domination is well underway with yesterday's announcement of Google Home, hints that Siri will be coming to OS X, and now with Microsoft's Cortana assistant crossing over to the Android realm via an app but currently only for the US.

Cortana manages your schedule, your interests, your people, your reminders—Cortana makes sure all that stuff is available wherever you need it. You can set a reminder to pick up milk on the way home while you’re on your PC at work, and Cortana will give you the heads up on your phone when you’re on the road. You can also ask Cortana to make an appointment, send an email, open an app, or help you find what you’re looking for. And it’s not only about productivity, Cortana’s always up for a little chit chat. She's also pretty savvy about predicting outcomes of sports matches.

Powered by Bing, the Cortana version for Android requires your companion PC to be running version 1511 or later. Canadians who really want to use the app have to likely change location on their devices which may not be ideal for other apps.

Microsoft: Windows 10 running on 300 million devices, free upgrade offer ends on July 29

Windows 10 is well on its way to hitting its target 1 billion devices in 2-3 years with an install base of 300 million devices. Microsoft, which kickstarted Windows 10 adoption by making it available as a free upgrade to Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users says that the window for upgrading to the latest OS for free is closing on July 29th. Does this mean that Microsoft will then charge for Windows 10 upgrades after that date? The answer, unfortunately is yes, "After July 29th, you’ll be able to continue to get Windows 10 on a new device, or purchase a full version of Windows 10 Home for US $119," says Yusuf Mehdi / Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Windows and Devices Group.

So, if you've been on the fence about upgrading and if your PC can handle the OS, now maybe a good time to jump onboard.

First Look: Microsoft Lumia 650

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Lumia 650 is the latest Windows Phone smartphone you've never heard of. Aimed at the mid-range and specifically to enterprise users, it is the thinnest Windows Phone device ever shipped and also one of the few new ways you can check out where Windows 10 on mobile is at today.

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Microsoft's Lumia 650 is now available for pre-order in Canada

Microsoft's Lumia 650 is now available for pre-order in Canada at an affordable price of $200.The latest Microsoft device is expected to ship on April 1. Sporting the latest version of Windows 10 for Phones, the Lumia 650 is geared towards enterprise users and has midrange specs including a Snapdragon 201 quad-core processor clocked at 1.33GHz,1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD), a 5-inch 720p HD OLED display, a ho-hum 8 megapixel rear camera and a 720p HD camera up front.

The premium Windows 10 features like Continuum and Windows Hello will not usable with the Lumia 650's specs but users can expect the latest build of Windows 10 on Phones with many of Microsoft's services on tap. It is also interesting to note that the $199 pricing is identical for the US and for Canada, which is a rare and welcome thing for Canadians. We ordered one of these Lumia 650's and will hopefully have a review up a few weeks after it ships.

Source: Thurrott.com