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With Microsoft giving up its smartphone aspirations, there is a big push to get its Apps on Android and iPhone platforms. Similar to how Amazon is promoting Alexa onto these platforms, Microsoft is also trying to get more users to use Cortana which while enabled on all the latest Windows PC's, suffers from much less penetration in the smartphone space.

Here we downloaded Cortana on the Google Pixel 2 XL phone from the Google Play Store.

  

While Cortana has similar features as Google Assistant, Microsoft promotes Cortana as being the glue between any PC's, phones, or tablets that have  Cortana installed, allowing notifications and reminders across all platforms.

  

To use Cortana, you will need to log into your Microsoft account. You will need to also allow Cortana to access your device's locations, files/media, and calendar.

   

Microsoft also tries to hijack Google Assistant, by asking you whether or not to use Cortana as your default assistant, and even add a Ask Cortana widget button on your home screen.

  

The Cortana App allows for even more access to SMS messages, contacts, and to make/manage phone calls.

  

Cortana is part of Microsoft strategy to Trojan horse its reach into your phone, but it will be interesting to see if it can differentiate enough from Amazon  Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant which offer rich features and an ecosystem of controllable devices and services.