Microsoft has today announced the release of the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14986 for PC which brings with it a number of new features, tweaks and enhancements for members of the Insider Preview programme to test out.
One of the more major updates within the latest build include new features for the Cortana personal assistant that now comes embedded in Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 operating system and provides a service similar to Apple’s Siri, Amazon Echo and Google’s digital assistant.
Microsoft explains more about what you can expect from the new Cortana features which have been rolled out in the Insider Preview Build 14986.
Making Cortana awesomer:
• Turn off your computer, change volume with voice commands: Being able to control your computer with just your voice is one of the top requests we get with Cortana, so we’re excited to say that we’ve added several new features to Cortana that let you do just that. Now you can shut down your PC just by asking Cortana. You can also restart, lock, or put the system to sleep, and raise and lower your system volume with just your voice. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
• Cortana loves music: You can now use Cortana to control music playback on more of your favorite music apps (EN-US only). Starting with this build, we’ve enabled natural language compatibility for iHeartRadio and TuneIn Radio. This will work on both, above the lock screen (PC is locked) as well as below! You can try queries like…Play <Artist/Track/Title/Genre> on <AppName>
Play Drake on iHeartRadio
Play Christmas music on iHeartRadio
Play NPR Hourly News on TuneIn
Play jazz music on TuneIn
Play <Frequency/Call Letters> on <AppName>
Play 90.3 on iHeartRadio
Play KUOW on TuneInWhile you are listening to music in one of these apps, you can also use your voice to control playback and volume. With radio stations, we often want to know what that catchy tune is that has played a million times, so we added support for “What’s Playing”. Try saying “Hey Cortana, What song is Playing?” and it will work for all apps playing music. As a bonus, we made Cortana smarter by remembering the last played music app so you don’t have to say “on Groove” over and over. All you need to do is say your desired app one time, something like “Play jazz music on iHeartRadio”; then the next time, just say “Play rock music” and it will play on iHeartRadio. Please look for the Quest and give us feedback!
For more information on the new features in the Insider Preview Build 14986 jump over to the official Microsoft Blog via the link below.
Source: Microsoft