Microsoft unveils Azure cloud, Cortana-powered thermostat

The smart thermostat space is a product that includes Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant and Azure cloud services. Microsoft is partnering with Johnson Controls to build a thermostat. The new GLAS thermostat built by Johnson Controls, makers of the first electric room thermostat.

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New product GLAS will run on Microsoft’s Windows 10 IoT Core OS. Equipped with the added services of Cortana, built into the thermostat. GLAS includes a touchscreen to allow manual controls and check on information, including temperature, air quality readings and calendar schedule.

Further, cortana gives the device another twist by enabling voice commands. The sensors allow GLAS to detect when people are in a room or not, allowing it to operate heating and air control systems more efficiently.

Microsoft to bring digital assistant to fridges, toasters, and thermostats.

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Moreover, Redmond-based company said it will include support for Azure cloud services. Microsoft revealed its plans to bring its digital assistant to fridges, toasters, and thermostats. There’s no word of pricing or availability for GLAS.

In addition, Microsoft open Cortana to third-parties on the software and hardware side of things and this effort from Johnson Control is first to emerge, alongside a smart speaker from Harman Kardon that was teased last year.

GLAS isn’t the first thermostat to make use of a smart assistant and voice recognition tech, however. Ecobee is building Alexa into its thermostats and smart light switches. The Amazon to places like the TV experience after Dish put it into its set-top boxes.

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We’ve said before that third-party partnerships are key to Amazon building Alexa into a dominant force in the home, and this collaboration with Johnson Controls which looks impressive in the promotional materials shows that the same applies to Microsoft and Cortana.