Microsoft Announces Fitbit Cortana Skill
Microsoft announced today that there is a new Fitbit Cortana skill accessible across Windows, Android and iOS devices. This is a big win for Microsoft as it works to build out the Cortana skills catalog with applications from popular consumer brands.
With the new Fitbit skill for Cortana, you can easily monitor your health and fitness goals – just by asking Cortana. Users can access the Fitbit skill across devices and platforms, starting with Windows 10, Android and iOS and soon on the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker.
Retrieve Fitness Data By Voice and Log it Too
In addition to Cortana relaying your latest Fitbit stats for the day, users can also add data to their Fitbit account. For example, a user can say, “Hey Cortana, tell Fitbit I drank 12 ounces of water,” or “Hey Cortana, tell Fitbit I had a Turkey sandwich for lunch.”
Cortana provides you with the convenience of being able to log these activities through voice, helping you maintain a fuller view of your calorie intake – along with the impact on your overall health and fitness stats.
Although Amazon has had an Alexa skill for Fitbit since March of last year, it only appears to enable you to ask for information. Nowhere does it seem to allow users to log nutritional and calorie intake information. So, this is an area where the Cortana skill is leaping ahead of the Alexa skill in functionality.
Getting Big Names to Support Cortana Before Google Assistant
The Fitbit announcement brings the Cortana skill count to 67. It is a good sign for Microsoft that the platform is getting additional high profile companies that started on Alexa to support Cortana as well. There is an added bonus that Fitbit moved to support Cortana before releasing a voice app for Google Assistant. Amazon has had its developer SDK out for more than two years so it has an obvious time-in-market advantage over competitors. Google, came out with its Actions on Google SDK and API.ai support at the end of 2016. Microsoft just launched its Cortana Skills Kit SDK in May, so it makes sense that the company is still in the early stages of adding new skills to the platform.
The Microsoft website notes that the Fitbit Cortana skill is only available in the U.S. today, but other countries will be “added over time.” You can access the new skill here.
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