Microsoft has announced that UK developers will have access to its digital assistant Cortana within the next two weeks.

While Microsoft has previously been reticent about rolling out the voice-controlled digital assistant, Marcus Ash, group program manager for Cortana on Windows Phone, confirmed on Twitter at the weekend that “barring an unforeseen issue” UK developers would see a preview version in less than a fortnight, giving them a chance to familiarise themselves with the program for Windows Phone 8.1.

Following the developer release, Cortana will be coming to all Windows Phone 8.1 users before the end of the year, with Microsoft confirming to The Inquirer that “Cortana will launch as a beta in the US this summer before expanding to the UK and China in late 2014.”

Cortana made headlines recently when it correctly predicted 15 out of 16 World Cup results during the knock-out stage, including the final. The assistant, which is powered by Microsofts search engine Bing, used prediction technology to look at teams past performance and determine winners.