Microsoft announces improvements to Play My Emails in Outlook, plus Cortana briefings

Today, Microsoft finally released the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, the major Windows 10 Update for the year, with a number of new features. Among them is a new Cortana experience for users in the United States, and in a separate announcement, Microsoft has announced some more improvements to its digital assistant, even on other platforms.

First, there are some new capabilities coming to Play My Emails, which is a Cortana feature built into the Outlook app on iOS, and that was announced at last year's Ignite. The new updates make it possible to schedule a meeting in response to an e-mail, respond to meeting invitations by voice or touch, join an online meeting, or warn other participants that you're late. It's also possible to add e-mails to a task list so you can get to them when you can use a PC, for example. One major announcement is that the Play My Emails is coming to the Outlook app on Android in the next few weeks, too.

The other major new feature is Cortana's briefing email. This was also announced at Ignite last year, but it seems like it's only making its way to users now. If you enable the feature, Cortana will send you an email at the start of each day, helping you prepare for upcoming meetings or other tasks you need to do during that day. This feature is only available for Microsoft 365 Enterprise users that use Exchange Online mailboxes in English, and only First Release customers at that. Over time, it should expand to more users.

For Windows 10 users, the new Cortana experience cuts back on consumer-facing features, but brings a more conversational UI and new productivity features. You can learn more about that update, as well as other features coming to Windows 10, in our guide.