Microsoft announces Cortana for Android coming in beta next month

Following up on the recent announcement that Microsoft would be bringing its Cortana personal assistant software to Android (a move originally scheduled to happen at the end of  this month), the company said today that it will be launching a beta version of the app next month instead.

The app’s feature set has been expanded upon, revealing that the system works across platforms like Windows 10 and Xbox One as well as mobile platforms like Android. Cortana will be connected to the user’s Microsoft account in order to keep the cross-platform features in sync.

For example, this feature allows users to create a reminder through Cortana on their Android phones, and receive a notification later on a PC or Xbox console about that reminder. From Microsoft’s blog post:

Starting this fall, customers will have a range of new experiences in how they interact with Windows and Cortana including,

• Your Microsoft account helps keep your personal assistant connected to you across device experiences, whether on your PC, phone or Xbox One. Cortana’s Notebook will be available across your devices to keep track of details important to you. Cortana only knows what you want her to know and you are fully in control of how you use her across devices.

• On Xbox One, Cortana knows your friends and makes it easy to invite them to play with you through simple voice commands. If you want to record and share a clip of your game play, you can use Cortana to precisely control the length of the recording and quickly share it with your friends without leaving your game. Cortana will also help you find information about games, such as the release date of an upcoming game, or help you get achievements by surfacing videos and information to help you succeed.

• On your Android phone you can ask Cortana to remind you to walk the dog at 8pm in the evening, and then when you’re watching a movie your Xbox will interrupt playback to let you know it’s time to take the dog out.

Cortana for Android will launch later this year, though now that the end-of-June date no longer seems to be the target date, there’s no exact word on when it will be available.