Microsoft Cortana rolls out to six new markets later this year

Microsoft will launch Windows 10 on July 29, while the notorious personal assistant Cortana will officially hit end-users across seven countries at the same time. The markets that will get access to Microsoft's virtual assistant at Windows 10's launch are UK, China, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the US. Earlier this week, the Redmond giant unveiled that six more countries will also get Cortana by the end of the year.

As the official blog post reveals, "over the coming months, Cortana will be available to customers in the Windows Insider Program in Japan and Australia, and in English in Canada and India." The same source also mentioned Cortana's availability to Windows Insider customers in Brazil, Mexico, as well as Canada (French language, this time).

Microsoft performed extensive research in each market to do more than just speech recognition. For example, part of Cortana's job in China is to track data on air quality, an essential piece of information for Chinese customers. While Cortana "is proud of national identity" in Italy, the assistant sometimes uses sarcasm in the UK "if she senses you’re fooling around," but also bows by default in Japan, showing "a high level of politeness."