Windows 10 Mobile has an interesting new feature that Microsoft is yet to announce. Virtual assistant Cortana for Windows 10 Mobile can now eliminate the need to type in the website URLs. According to WMPowerUser, the digital assistant opens certain websites upon request. All you have to do is open the Cortana app and say the name of the website such as Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook.
Only a handful of websites are currently supported
Cortana will pull up the home page of the respective website in Edge browser. What makes it even more interesting is that users won’t have to add the URL suffixes like .com, .net, .co.uk, etc. However, the feature is limited to only a few websites at the moment. Currently, the verified sites that Cortana calls up include Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Facebook, CNN, and Pizza Hut.
Microsoft is expected to expand the number of supported websites in the future. In Windows Phone 8.1, users couldn’t request Cortana to launch websites directly. Earlier builds of Windows 10 Mobile required users to select from a search list. The Redmond-based company is still testing out the feature. The new capability won’t be immediately available to Cortana for Android and Cortana for iOS.
Existing users to receive Windows 10 Mobile later this month
When you open the Cortana app and say “Facebook,” you’ll see a message that says, “I’m pulling up Facebook” then the Facebook homepage opens on your screen. It is unclear how many websites will users be able to open by vocal request. Though the Redmond-based company has launched Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL running Windows 10 Mobile, the new OS update is expected to be pushed out to Windows Phone users later this month. Microsoft previously said that the OS would arrive on existing phones before Christmas.
Meanwhile, wireless carriers like Vodafone Australia have started testing the OS on various Windows Phone 8.1 devices. The carrier is currently testing Windows 10 Mobile for Lumia 630, Lumia 640, Lumia 640 XL, Lumia 730, and Lumia 930. Recently, the software giant pushed out a “cumulative update” to Windows 10 Mobile that adds various bug fixes and security updates to the final version users will soon start receiving.
