A private beta of Cortana for Android was leaked to the Internet yesterday resulting in Microsoft issuing a statement saying that the official public beta for the digital assistant will be made available for Android owners sometime in the next few weeks.
“In the spirit of the Windows Insider Program, we’re testing the Cortana for Android beta with a limited number of users in the U.S. and China before releasing the beta publicly in the next few weeks.”
The leaked version of the beta came from a unknown member of Microsoft’s Windows Insider program.
According to ZDNet, an email sent to members of the program that are testing Windows 10 asked them to take a survey, after which a limited number of people in the US and China were selected to download the Android Cortana beta.
Of course, this immediately led to somebody leaking the apk file.
The plan to put Cortana on machines running software from rivals such as Apple and Google represents a new front in CEO Satya Nadella’s battle to sell Microsoft software on any device or platform, rather than trying to force customers to use Windows.
Anyone who is interested in being selected for the private Android beta can view the short survery here.
