We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE FIRST GLIMPSES of Microsoft’s answer to Siri and Google Now have appeared a month before its official announcement.
Codenamed Cortana, the name of the artificial intelligence character that features heavily in the Halo series, the personal assistant will be included in the latest update for Windows Phone.
Unleash The Phones has published a video demonstrating the setup process for it. Once you’ve signed in with your Microsoft account, it will ask users what nickname you want to be called and a number of questions that will determine what kind of information it displays.
Questions like what the most enjoyable parts of your day are, your main motivations for taking part in an activity, and what type of news sections you go to first will be asked first before it’s activated.
Once these actions are completed, it saves them into its Notebook system – where stores data like personal info, location data, behaviours, and reminders – which it will refer to whenever you ask it something.
So far, it only responds to questions instead of displaying information it believes will be useful to you like Google Now, but that could easily change before between now and its release.
Another feature is the do-not-disturb mode called “quiet hours”. Alongside the usual options associated with the feature, it will allow phone calls from those who ring twice within three minutes, in case of an emergency, or if the caller is part of a favourite “inner circle” list.
Microsoft is expected to unveil both Cortana and a developer preview of Windows Phone 8.1 at its Build conference next month.
(Video: Yash Maheshwari/YouTube)
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
They should bring back the Microsoft word (95?) paper clip as the character.
“It looks like you’re writing a letter”?!!!
Hated that guy!!! :-)
Siri is some load of crap.
I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch that. Would you like to ask again?
I’d say Microsoft in more worried about Google now than Siri. It’s cross-platform and ties into your calendar and email and searches on desktop and really ties you into the Google system. Siri only works on your phone and is more limited.
Siri also has no access to your search history (correct me if I’m wrong, please) which is a massive advantage Google Now also has over Siri. Some of the stuff Google Now presents to me daily is frighteningly intuitive.
And yes, tin-foil hat crowd, it can be all turned off VERY easily.
For a site that gives windows phone a great amount of exposure the journal could do with making an app for it.
It would a pretty great app too using live tiles and the metro design.
Using the same name as the AI from Halo is a cool move actually :-)
Siri uses Bing as its search engine,I enjoy telling the Microsoft hating apple fan boys that.
So @Quinton o Reilly any word on that journal app for wp8 yet.
Mass Effect;s EDI will do just fine for me..
have your say