Microsoft is giving Skype a boost of intelligence thanks to Cortana and Skype Bots.
With Cortana integration, Skype users will be able to do things such as manage their calendar and contacts without leaving the Skype app. Cortana will also be able to interact with bots, which Microsoft said will allow people to perform tasks such as book hotels and order pizza by conversing with the app itself.
Bots are available in preview form within the messaging part of Skype, but will eventually be added to audio and video calling, too.
A new version of Skype for Android, iOS, and Windows enables the bots. Companies will be able to create their own bots for Skype via Microsoft’s developer program. People will be able to add the bots they want to their contact list.
Microsoft revealed the bots are part of its larger vision for voice-activated computing.
