14 DAY TRIAL // Cortana, the digital personal assistant included in Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, has been through a nice set of changes over the past several months, and it seems that yet another one has been made to it in Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1.
The new platform iteration has started rolling out earlier this week in the form of a Developer Preview iteration, bringing a nice range of new features and enhancements to users enrolled in Microsoft’s developer program.
With this update, Cortana has been brought to more markets out there, including China, the UK, India, Australia, and Canada, while also receiving a series of additional improvements under the hood.
One of them allows users to ask her questions even when the smartphone is locked. Basically, all they need to do is to long press the search button, and Cortana will be ready for interaction.
As nokiapoweruser notes, Cortana was able to make phone calls when the phone was locked before the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 started arriving, but it can do much more than that now.
However, in case you fear that others might misuse this feature on your handset, you can disable it by heading to Settings > Speech, and uncheck using speech when the phone is locked.