NEW DELHI: Tech giant Microsoft will bring its voice-activated digital assistant 'Cortana' to India, China and other countries as part of Windows Phone 8.1 update.

Cortana, a competitor to Apple's 'Siri', will be available in India under a new "alpha" programme in India, Australia and Canada where people can try Cortana using English language models from the U.S. and the UK.

"We have been thrilled by the excitement around Cortana in Windows Phone 8.1. And we are excited to make her available for people in China and the UK with this update as a 'beta' and in Canada, India, and Australia as an 'alpha'," Microsoft said in a blogpost.

The update has some new features for everyone around the world, and some features have been completely customised for and by people in China, it added.

Currently available in the U.S., people can use Cortana to find data, track information, set reminders, etc.

Microsoft's China team has developed number of additional features specifically like an alternative form which has a different visual appearance, animations, and sounds.

Cortana in China supports Mandarin in voice, text and speech and has specialised suggestions like air quality in weather cards, information about driving restrictions and the ability to track local TV shows and celebrities.

Cortana can also look up for English words in the Bing Dictionary for people looking to brush up on their English.

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