The reach of Maluuba – a major force in open source voice command technologies – is moving beyond Android for the first time. Not onto Apple’s turf, of course – that’s basically already taken care of internally – but to Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 devices.

TechCrunch is reporting that the app – which was announced at the 2013 Mobile World Congress – has been made available to the Windows Phone camp since earlier Wednesday, and that the Maluuba team intends to provide its technology to as many platforms as possible. As the developers noted in announcing the availability:

Windows Phone 8 is a great opportunity for us and we’re excited for users to get it in their hands. We’ve gotten praise for our Android app from both the press and users and we think Windows Phone will be as positive. We’ve done some neat integration with live tiles and will continue to add more as Microsoft grows the platform. Unlike Google Now and Siri, we want Maluuba to be device independent. We’re in an age where users expect great services to not only work on multiple platforms but to leverage each platform’s strengths, we think we’ve done that for Android and Windows Phone and we’re already working on expanding to more platforms soon.

For those who are not familiar with Maluuba, it’s like Siri from the iPhone – just in a more open nature compared to Apple’s offering. The Maluuba platform is already showing its force – and in fact has been doing so ever since its grand showcasing (and finalist rating) at Disrupt SF – and is already making its way into new handsets and devices thanks to several OEM development agreements. Everything from smart TV and Blu-Ray devices to your kitchen fridge is eligible for Maluuba development.

Maluuba works much the same on whatever platform you choose, providing many of the expected functions. For example, Maluuba provides access to shopping queries (with official input from Best Buy and Walmart), and can set alarms, place calls, deliver weather reports and even schedule appointments much like Siri does.

The Maluuba app for Windows Phone 8 can be previewed in the video provided herein.

[Source TechCrunch]