Windows Phone 8.1 Release Date: Cortana Will Soon Speak Mandarin, British English, Indian, Etc., Arriving In New Update

The Windows Phone 8.1 release date has officially been released to a number of markets all over the globe, with dozens of supported WP-powered phones, including majority of Nokia's Lumia lineup. 

However, one complaint that is common among all of those who got it outside of the US is the absence of the Microsoft voice assistant Cortana. 

Until today, Cortana has only been exclusive in the US, but in a new update that will roll out soon. 

According to a report by GSM Arena, the famed voice assistant will soon be released in other markets outside of the US, including the UK and China, as well as India, Canada and Australia. 

Unfortunately, the update is only arriving to those in the Developer Preview version as of now. However, the report clearly states that consumers who are running the official and stable version should get the update in the coming months. 

In the report, the Cortana assistant that will become available in other markets will not be exactly the same as the one in the US. For instance, the Chinese counterpart for Cortana will be named Xiao Na, and has the ability to understand and speak Mandarin. 

Aside from the voice, animations, visual appearances, and other functions will be different from the US Cortana. 

Meanwhile, for the UK, their Cortana will be able to speak English with a British accent and spellings. The voice assistant will use Bing in conducting searches for the user, especially in terms of sporting events, the London Stock Exchange, weather conditions, etc. 

Cortana is one of the primary selling points of the new Windows Phone 8.1 update, and without it the new version still does not look like anything that can stand on its own without being compared to Android. 

Other changes which are brought by the 8.1 update include a notification center, new keyboard, and customizable home and lockscreens.