Microsoft's annual Build conference[1] is where coding demos typically get the most love from attendees. But at Day 1 of Build 2018, a conceptual demo of how meetings in the future may work got just as much attention and applause, if not more.
Microsoft foreshadowed some of these smart-meeting scenarios[2] a year ago in a podcast, describing Cortana conference room features that one day could become commonplace. I'd expect the second version of the company's Surface Hub conferencing system[3], which could be available in late 2018 or early 2019, to be key here, as well.
Cortana, Microsoft's personal digital assistant, is at the center of these kinds of scenarios. Cortana has fallen behind Alexa and Google Home in terms of number of skills available and devices that are integrating the service. Microsoft is looking to its Alexa-Cortana integration partnership -- announced last year, but still only available in limited closed preview (with no final ETA date available[4]) -- as one way to try to get Cortana working on more devices, such as Amazon's Echo.
But the company also is embedding Cortana in more of its own apps and services, including its Teams workplace chat product; Outlook; and Windows (via the shell) to make it available to users where they are and in the context where they're working.
TechRepublic: Microsoft Cortana: The smart person's guide[5]
In its Build "future of modern meetings" demonstration, officials showed a prototype of a conferencing device on a desk that would pick up audio and video and pair it with Microsoft 365 and the Microsoft Graph to provide automatic identification of meeting participants, real-time transcription and real-time translation. Cortana can help participants to set up meetings, find