Microsofts Cortana is sleeping with the fishes

Lots of people are fine with allowing a helpful wiretap into their lives. I am not one of them. None of them. So, when I heard that Cortana was being sent out to pasture by Microsoft, I was pretty excited. The dismantling of surveillance apparatus thats slimed its way into our daily lives always leaves me feeling a little frisky.

From Gizmodo:

Thats according to a support article Microsoft posted to several regional markets this week, though a spokesperson later clarified to Gizmodo that only users in the following areas can expect to say goodbye to the voice assistant: Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Mexico, China, Spain, Canada, and India. Despite dropping the app in these regions, Cortana itself remains an integral part of the companys business model to incorporate conversational computing and productivity into its products according to the spokesperson, so Microsoft doesnt appear to be closing the coffin on it entirely.

According to Gizmodo, at least in North America, well have to put up with the companys post-Clippy assistant on our smartphones until January 31, 2020.

Cortanas death has been a long time coming. Last year, Microsofts CEO admitted that the companys virtual assistant could keep up with the likes of Alexa or Siri.

Score one for those of us who dont want our gadgets listening in on us. I can only hope that Halos Master Chief will be able to quickly deal with the loss of his long-term companion and move on with his life.

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