Tech: Microsoft built an eye-catching smart thermostat featuring its Cortana voice assistant (MSFT)

Microsoft is trying to push Cortana in the smart home.

Microsoft has built a smart thermostat that comes with its voice assistant, detects whether you're in the room, and tells you what the air quality is.

The thermostat, called GLAS, runs on a version of Windows for smaller devices, Windows 10 IoT Core, and features Microsoft's smart voice assistant, Cortana. We first saw GLAS on The Verge.

Microsoft showed off GLAS in a short YouTube video, posted on Wednesday, that you can watch below.

GLAS's design is similar to rival smart thermostats like Google's Nest or Hive in the UK, with a touchscreen display where you can check the temperature, air quality, energy usage, and even calendar information. The main way it's differentiated is its voice activation.

Microsoft built the device with the US thermostat maker Johnson Controls. But neither company said whether the thermostat will be sold to consumers in the UK or US, or given a price.

The thermostat is just the latest example of Microsoft pushing its voice assistant in the smart home. The Windows 10 Creators update in March means that any smart appliance with a screen can now run Cortana, so it's possible GLAS is intended to show you what you can do. That means you might see a lot more smart gadgets featuring Cortana popping up over the next year.

Here's Microsoft's video for GLAS:

Microsoft is trying to push Cortana in the smart home. Read Full Story