'Cortana' personal assistant will be powered by Foursquare.

[George P 3,456]

Microsoft?s $15 million investment in Foursquare will soon result in product changes in the coming months. Bloomberg News reports that the deal will be used for location data and services that are part of Microsoft?s upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update. The software maker is currently beta testing a ?Cortana? personal assistant in Windows Phone 8.1, named after the same character found in Halo. Foursquare?s data will help Cortana push out tips, discounts, and suggestions based on location.

While Microsoft isn?t commenting on Windows Phone 8.1 or Cortana, Microsoft?s Zig Serafin has revealed to Bloomberg News that Foursquare?s data will be used in future Windows Phone software. ?We?re building some contextually aware experiences to power some upcoming products in Windows Phone,? Serafin said. ?This will be for anywhere you get a Bing-powered experience.? Some recent rumors had suggested Cortana would be restricted to the US market initially, but it appears Microsoft will likely bring the personal assistant to countries where Bing is present.

Microsoft?s Cortana work in Windows Phone 8.1 is largely focused on context, rules, and signals. Data from alarms, calendar, weather apps, calls, and even whether a device is charging, can all be fed into the service to provide notifications and context around Windows Phone use. Early screenshots of Microsoft?s Cortana system showed that the company is testing location polling, and pulling data from Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Home and work location data, and favorite contacts will also play a big part in Cortana, providing more relevant and improved search results.

More at source.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/7/5389142/windows-phone-8-1-cortana-personal-assistant-features-foursquare

[Jarrichvdv 152]

Well, the more service they integrate the better it gets I guess. Integration of location services like Foursquare seems like a no-brainer to me.