Xbox One Cortana Feature "Coming Along Great," Director Says

When the New Xbox One Experience update arrived in November, it was discovered that an early version of Microsoft's Siri-like Cortana digital assistant was added to the console. The full release is scheduled for sometime in the future, and now Xbox tech director Mike Ybarra has shared a progress update.

Asked when Cortana would be coming to Xbox One in a full, official capacity, Ybarra did not share a release date, but said he's been encouraged by the progress made on the service so far.

"Saw a demo from the team today," Ybarra wrote on March 14. "Coming along great."

Windows Central reported in October 2015 [video link] that, for some time, you could access an early version of Cortana on Xbox One with limited features. However, the site says Cortana is no longer accessible in the method it outlined in the linked video above.

Cortana on Xbox One will work in a similar way to how it does on Windows 10. You can give Cortana all manner of voice commands to help you contact friends and launch applications. Her name, of course, is taken from the iconic Halo AI character.

The next Xbox One update is currently available for Preview Program members. Among other things, it introduces a store where you can buy backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games. It also increases the max party chat user count to 16.