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Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana are friends now (The 3:59, Ep. 276)

We take a look at this new partnership and Alfred talks about spending an afternoon channeling an anime ninja.

Alfred Ng Senior Reporter / CNET News
Alfred Ng was a senior reporter for CNET News. He was raised in Brooklyn and previously worked on the New York Daily News's social media and breaking news teams.
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Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
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Alfred Ng
Roger Cheng

Alexa and Cortana now have an artificial relationship. 

Amazon and Microsoft have decided to team up and let their smart assistants chat with each other. Alexa, which is featured on a multitude of Amazon's products, will be able to interact with Microsoft's Cortana, and vice-versa. 

We talk about all the new features you'll be able to use now that these two voice assistants are working together, and what it means for the Google Assistant and Apple's Siri.

Also on the podcast, we chat about what it was like to be at an anime flash mob run.

The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the top stories of the day, brought to you by the CNET News team in New York and producer Bryan VanGelder.

Check out the extended shows on YouTube.

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