Amazon's Alexa app headed to Windows PCs, exposing Cortana's smart-home weakness

Amazon's Alexa is headed to Windows PCs, as Amazon aggressively forged partnerships with Acer, Asus, and HP here at CES. Both Amazon and Microsoft had already planned to bring the Alexa digital assistant to smart speakers like the Harman Kardon Invoke, as part of a set of "skills" that allowed third-party app integrations to add additional intelligence. But this is a bit different: Amazon and PC makers are bringing an Alexa app to select Windows PCs, challenging Microsoft's Cortana on her own turf. "Hands-free access to Alexa on PCs can be helpful to customers in many ways, like making it simple to interact with your smart home, get news or weather, set timers, and more," said Steve Rabuchin, vice president of Amazon Alexa, as part of the Acer announcement. "This is a big step toward making Alexa available wherever customers might need her." One of Cortana's greatest weaknesses is a lack of smart-home controls, as our review of the Invoke from our smart-home site, TechHive, indicated earlier this year.