Cyanogen announced strategic partnership with Microsoft in April 2015. Since then, the popular mobile software maker has been integrating Windows apps such as Skype, OneNote and others in to its custom Android platform. Now, the company has introduced much awaited Cortana, digital assistant to the Cyanogen-powered OnePlus One in India.
"We're happy to announce that we're launching Cortana in India on Cyanogen OS first. OnePlus One owners running 13.1 in India can now take advantage of all of the awesome features available from Cortana," Cyanogen admin said on the official blog.
It has to be noted that Cortana-optimized Cyanogen OS v13.1 update was first released in the U.S. and China way back in January. Now, it is finally being made available in the country.
What is Cortana?
Cortana, Windows' voice assistant is similar to Siri (in Apple devices) and Google Now (in Android Devices). It is inspired by the popular artificial intelligence character (Master Chief's AI side-kick) seen in "Halo" video game series. It is powered by Microsoft's search engine Bing and SensorCore technology.
The voice assistant is good at setting calendar appointments, alarm timer, and turn on and off network data with voice command. It is intuitive enough to proactively warn users when it's time to leave for the next appointment and remind them to pick up milk on their way home.
The new Cyanogen OS update also comes with Cortana mod for Camera and Lock Screen. Users can ask Cortana to "take a selfie", thus providing voice controlled, hands free, automatic countdown for capturing your picture. OnePlus One owners can even use their voice to search right from the lock screen.
Also read: Wating for Android Nougat update? See if your smartphone is eligible for Google's mobile OS v7.0
How to install OTA (Over-The-Air) update on OnePlus One:
On getting the update notifications, select the "Yes, Download" option >> then, after downloading, select >> "Install now". The phone will restart automatically and the OS will be updated to the new version.
Usually OTA roll-out process is staged phases, so it will take at least a week or two for the software to reach all the corners of the country.
Until then, users can also check manually on the smartphone by going to – 'Settings' >> 'About phone' >> 'System update' >> 'Check Now'.
