Microsoft will be offering its increasingly popular personal assistant Cortana to iOS and Android, with the company announcing that a dedicated Cortana app will be released alongside Windows 10 later this year.

Microsoft has also provided an early look at the new apps, showing that while they will not be as powerful as the Windows Phone version, they will have a lot to offer.

"The Cortana app can do most of the things Cortana does on your PC or on a Windows phone," said Joe Belfiore, corporate VP of Microsoft's Operating Systems Group. "You can have Cortana remind you to pick up milk the next time you're at the grocery store, and then your phone will wake up and buzz with the reminder. You'll be able to track a flight using Cortana on both your phone and your PC, and get the updates on the device that you're on so you don't miss anything."

The move is largely seen as a way for Microsoft to better compete in the mobile industry, with Windows Phone owning a miniscule portion of the market share compared with the likes of Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Microsoft has released a number of other apps to other smartphone platforms, including the likes of its office suite.

Of course, that doesn't mean that Microsoft is forgetting about its own mobile operating system. The company will be releasing a mobile version of Windows 10 later this year. This operating system will support Microsoft's "Universal Apps," which essentially are designed to work across all Windows-based devices. We will also see Windows Phone adopt Continuum, which allows users to plug their phone into a computer monitor and use their device as a computer.

It will certainly be interesting to see Cortana coexist with the likes of Google Now and Siri. According to Microsoft, users will still be able to use Siri and Google Now when they have Cortana installed. Of course, there could be some confusion when it comes to voice control, although Microsoft says that at least initially, Cortana on Android and iOS will not offer voice control, and users will not be able to use the assistant to change settings in their device.

So what will Cortana do on Android and iOS? Well, it seems as though it will offer users a way to better integrate their phone with their PC, giving reminders and allowing users to sync the data on their phone to a Windows computer.

Image: Bhupinder Nayyar | Flickr