Cortana has landed on the Xbox One as part of the Xbox Anniversary Update – here’s how to enable the virtual assistant in South Africa!
Microsoft has officially released the Xbox One’s Summer Update, which brings a number of software improvements to the console; chief of which is Cortana, the virtual assistant that arrived with the release of Windows 10.
As of now, Microsoft has limited Cortana’s availability to the United Kingdom and the United States, leaving South African gamers out in the cold. Thankfully, just as with Microsoft’s desktop operating system, there’s an easy method to enable the virtual assistant aboard the Xbox One.
Read: Microsoft is set to launch Xbox Play Anywhere on September 13th
As Cortana is reliant on language and locale settings aboard Windows 10, the virtual assistant is similarly dependent on the same options on the Xbox One. Gamers outside of the US or UK can easily amend their locations to enable the assistant throughout the console.
Enabling Cortana
Ready? Let’s dive in! On your Xbox One:
- Head to Settings
- Go to System
- Go to Languages and Location
- Under Language, select English
- Under Language Region, select English (United States)
- Under Location, select United States
- Under Keyboard Language, select English (United States)
- Press Restart Now
Your console will restart and will reboot over the course of a minute. During this time, your location will be set to the United States, your Xbox storefront will change to mirror content available in the United States.
Once rebooted:
- Head to Settings
- Go to System
- Go to Cortana
- Enable Cortana
Cortana will begin, and presto – Microsoft’s virtual assistant will be ready to help you throughout your Xbox One.
No Kinect?
Thankfully, one of the major improvements Microsoft’s Xbox Summer Update has introduced is the ability to use chat headsets with built-in microphones as audio controllers, hence eliminating the need to own a Kinect motion sensor.
By connecting your Xbox One’s chat headset (or a supported model) you can directly control Cortana from the comfort of your couch.
Using the virtual assistant, you can largely make use of voice commands found on Windows 10, save for functionality through which your Microsoft account might be accessed. To clarify, you can make queries of Bing’s knowledge graph and ask about the weather or issue an app to launch, but you won’t be able to use your Xbox to check your calendar for the day.
As with the Xbox One’s extant voice commands, you can use the assistant to launch apps, games, and even turn the console itself off.
Read: Microsoft wants to build a better Xbox than ever with Project Scorpio
Have your say!
What are your thoughts on using Cortana aboard the Xbox One? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
