The U.S. version of Cortana, released as part of the Windows Phone 8.1 developer preview in April 2014, was designated as a Beta version and even in final version of Windows Phone 8.1 it is mentioned as Beta.
The most recent update launches Cortana in China and UK in beta version and to India, Australia, and Canada in Alpha Version. The latter version offers the users the alternative to experience Cortana by using the English language models from the US as well as the UK. Now let us aim at setting it up for Windows Phone devices in these areas.
Steps listed below to activate Cortana alpha version:
1. You just need to alter your Speech, Region and Language settings to English US or UK. If these packages are already not there in your phone, you need to download it. If any other combination works out for you, please comment below.
Go to Settings and make the changes, as shown in below screenshot. You will need to restart your phone after doing these changes.
2. Now, make sure your location service is turned ON. Go to Settings -> Location and turn it ON.
3. Next, go to Setting and swipe to open Applications tab. You will see Cortana is there. Tap on it
Cortana will launch and will ask for some permissions and then it will ask your name and some basic questions and it’s done. Now anytime, just tap on the search button, and Cortana will be greeting you with some message instead of the till-date Bing search page. At the top right corner, you will get an info that it is an alpha edition, so things might turn out to be haywired or some facilities may not be available.
Microsoft would be acquiring knowledge from the user behavior to amend the experience as the product develops as time passes. We have asked Cortana a question “What is the height of Bill Gates?” Below what we got…
Please don’t forget to leave your comments on Cortana Alpha Version.
About Nick
Nick is a Software Engineer. He has interest in gadgets and technical stuffs. If you are facing any problem with your Windows, feel free to ask him.