Cortana Now Supports Shopping Lists

Microsoft Cortana is setting out to rescue grocery shoppers, busy professionals, and pretty much everyone else who relies on to-do lists but hates to make them. Starting today, Cortana can automatically start a grocery, to-do, or shopping list to which you add items using your voice.

Phrases like "Hey Cortana, create a holiday list," will trigger the new option, which is available on the Cortana Android and iOS apps, as well as Windows 10.

If you'd like access to the lists Cortana creates without asking her to read them back to you, you can read them via an integration with Wunderlist. Connecting to Wunderlist also gives you the ability to add due dates to your to-dos and create shared lists from the Wunderlist app.

Cortana Gives Third-Party Apps a Voice
One of Cortana's chief rivals, Apple's Siri, can also create and update to-do lists. Siri keeps track of your lists via the Reminders app for iOS and macOS.

Microsoft has been positioning Cortana as a worthy alternative to Siri and Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. One of the keys in that strategy is welcoming third-party developers: at its Build developers conference in April 2016, Microsoft announced a new 'Actions' platform that makes it easier for developers to add items from their apps to Cortana.

Nvidia Expects 20-Year Relationship With Nintendo Thanks to Switch

Sony and Microsoft have aligned themselves with AMD for current-generation console hardware and those relationships look set to continue. However, for the next-gen Switch, Nintendo chose AMD rival NVIDIA, supplier of the NVIDIA Tegra processor.

This high-end System-on-Chip (SoC) is what powers the heart of Nintendo's next home console.

Last week, NVIDIA revealed during an earnings call that its gaming revenue increased by US$463 million compared to Q2, according to NeoGAF. "I guess you could also say that Nintendo contributed a fair amount to that growth," said NVIDIA CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, said during the call.

While the world has not yet seen the Nintendo Switch, Huang pointed out that NVIDIA has been working with the gaming giant for two years on the Nintendo Switch and "several hundred engineering years have gone into the development of this incredible game console."

Remembering that this is an earnings call aimed squarely at investors, Huang shared how extremely positive he is about the Switch. "I really believe when everybody sees it and enjoy it, they're going be amazed by it. It's really like nothing they've ever played with before," he added.

Huang also highlighted a key point about NVIDIA's relationship with Nintendo.

It is well known that Nintendo looks into investing in hardware architecture for the long term. You need only look at the NDS/2DS/3DS to see that. So he believed it will be the same for the Nintendo Switch going forward; he envisioned, "a relationship that will likely last two decades."

It's a fair point to make. If the Nintendo Switch is successful, then Nintendo will certainly want to follow it up with a Nintendo Switch 2 in five to eight years time. NVIDIA will be front of the line to provide the SoC for that machine, too. Even if the next-gen console fails, Nintendo will likely want to maintain the relationship it has built with NVIDIA's engineering team to help create whatever comes next, even if it ends up being a smartphone.

Microsoft Xbox Preview Program Renamed, Opened to All

Microsoft just announced improvements to its Xbox Preview Program. Each month, Redmond pushes out new features to Xbox One owners. But before making their public debut, those programs are tested through preview members who are tasked to try out these things.

This includes fiddling with backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 titles.

Going forward, the most notable change to the program is the transition to a new name—the Xbox Insider Program—meant to reflect an expanded range of service preview opportunities for users, including games, apps, and system updates.
The Xbox Preview Dashboard has also been renamed to become the Xbox Insider Hub. Microsoft confirmed that Hub is a complete rebuild of the Dashboard based on fan feedback.

Other highlights, as outlined via Program Manager, Emily Hanson, include more personalisation, a new user interface, an Xbox Insider profile card, and support for multiple users on a console.

"We're starting to roll these changes out today to a small number of preview members who have provided the most feedback since the inception of the Xbox Preview Program" Hanson shared.

Xbox One consoles in instant-on mode and with the Xbox Preview Dashboard app installed will automatically update overnight. Everyone else can check online for upgrades or wait patiently for access to the new Xbox Insider Hub. Most will see it soon as it should fully roll-out over the next few weeks.

"Our final change, my personal favorite, is that the Xbox Insider Program will soon be open to all Xbox users," Hanson added.

Access to system updates still remains limited to those already participating. Of course, this change means more people will be able to try games, apps, upgrades, and new features, and give feedback directly from their Xbox One.