Microsoft unveils Cortana Skills Kit preview and Devices SDK

News General Global 14 DEC 2016
Microsoft unveils Cortana Skills Kit preview and Devices SDK

Microsoft has announced the launch of new tools designed to help developers improve its personal digital assistant Cortana and bring it to more devices. The Cortana Skills Kit preview has been made available to select partners to help their developers "leverage bots created with the Microsoft Bot Framework and publish them to Cortana as a new skill, to integrate their web services as skills and to repurpose code from their existing Alexa skills to create Cortana skills". The aim is to connect users to skills when users ask, and proactively present skills to users in the appropriate context.

The company has also unveiled a Cortana Devices SDK to help manufacturers integrate Cortana into all types of smart devices "on no screen or the big screen, in homes and on wheels". Companies such as consumer electronics maker Harman Kardon are already using the SDK to develop Cortana-powered speakers with more hardware partners set to join the fray. The Cortana Devices SDK is currently in private preview and will be available more broadly in 2017, said Microsoft.


Categories:

General

Companies:

Microsoft,  Harman

Regions:

Global

Tags:

Launch, IT - applications, Consumer devices, Wholesale

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