Microsoft’s virtual assistant can now remind you to send emails


Microsoft – one of the most pioneering tech companies on the planet – will soon be releasing a new addition to their Windows 10 software. Virtual assistant Cortana can now give you reminders on topics you’ve been writing about in your emails.

Having already teamed up with 1&1 on their email Exchange software, Microsoft will yet again attempt to improve and build upon the emailing experience for personal and professional users. As Microsoft’s Marcus Ash explained to The Verge, Cortana will scan your emails simply to help you stay on top of things: “Cortana will look for emails where you’ve said you’re going to do something…if you send an email to a friend or colleague with content like ‘I’ll get back to you by next week’ or ‘I’ll have this finished by 5PM today,’ then Cortana will [notify you as a reminder].”

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Microsoft has been analyzing the way people are using emailing nowadays, and has given Cortana the ability to prompt the user if he or she sends an email to themselves. As email privacy is a thorny issue, Microsoft is keen to point out that Cortana’s scanning system won’t result in the company collecting your personal data; all the information read will stay on your computer and won’t be sent anywhere else.
The video below explains a little more about the email scanning.

How Microsoft keeps evolving the simple act of emailing is certainly interesting, and one has to wonder how it will be integrated within the company’s highly anticipated augmented reality headset, called the HoloLens. Although a retail edition of the headset isn’t anywhere close to release, mixed reviews have surfaced regarding prototypes sent out, with CNET.com stating: “Microsoft’s HoloLens is one of the most magical pieces of technology I’ve ever seen. It could change the world. But if you bought one today, for your own personal use, I guarantee you’d hate it.”

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A life-sized holographic version of virtual assistant Cortana has been rumored to be part of the HoloLens technology (the same Cortana that Halo players will recognize), yet this vision is likely still years away from happening.


Microsoft first showed the HoloLens to the world at the E3 gaming convention in 2015, in which they displayed the headset’s capabilities via Minecraft. Because the HoloLens works differently to a virtual reality headset, users can still see parts of the real world around them, thereby being able to project virtual elements onto tables and walls, for example. Be sure to watch the E3 video below.

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