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Microsoft announces Cortana for Windows Phone

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K

killer rin

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cortana-windows-phone-theverge-6_1020.jpg
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TheVerge: The story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri killer
Windows Phone 8.1 brings a new look and a Siri rival named Cortana
By learning your habits and interests continuously, Cortana is positioned as a personal digital assistant that helps you organize your day-to-day activities, alongside regular web searches for information. Cortana will act as the primary way to discover and search for information on Windows Phone 8.1, or just an assistant to manage your meetings, reminders, and daily life. She’s smart and witty, all while being designed to closely resemble a human assistant. With the competition already years ahead, Cortana arrives at a time when Microsoft is focused on catching up in mobile. Cortana is a significant new feature for Windows Phone 8.1, one that has been in development for more than two years.
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That simple idea inspired Microsoft to create a virtual "Notebook" for Cortana which stores personal information and anything that’s approved for Cortana to see and use. It’s not a privacy control panel, per se, but a list of everything Cortana knows about you. "It’s her view of you, but clearly you can just snatch it from her at any time and say ‘That’s not right, I don’t want you to know this’ or ‘I’m not comfortable with you reading my email,’" explains Ash. "So you have complete control over what she knows and she’s transparent about it." Entries in the Notebook are stored in the cloud, and you can share contact information with it, as well as your interests, home and work locations, and more.
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Windows Phone Central: Cortana announced for Windows Phone 8.1, we go hands on
Microsoft has just announced Cortana for Windows Phone 8.1 at Build 2014. Cortana is the upcoming voice assistant that will compete against Siri and Google Now. We’ve heard rumors and seen leaks over the previous months, but now it’s all official. Cortana will be available soon to users on Windows Phone 8.1.
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Today at //build/ Microsoft has announced Cortana for the Windows Phone platform. Considering this was one of the big announcements, I believe it deserves its own thread.


Some things about Cortana
Cortana is voiced by Jen Taylor

Anton Sugar said:
1. API allows third party apps to use Cortana for voice commands
2. Cortana's "Notebook" allows you to manage your personalized interests, etc.
Click to expand...
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
I'm quite surprised they actually called it Cortana.

And unless Cortana can run on an iPhone... Don't see how it could "kill" Siri. They don't even get to meet.
 
A

Anton Sugar

Member
OP, you should probably highlight two of the biggest features (IMO):

1. API allows third party apps to use Cortana for voice commands
2. Cortana's "Notebook" allows you to manage your personalized interests, etc.

TBH, I'm still not on board with voice commands, but willing to give this a shot, mostly because of the Notebook. If it can be personalized and she actually does "learn", then it could be very useful for me.
 
A

Anion

Member
That's actually pretty cool.

Anton Sugar said:
OP, you should probably highlight two of the biggest features (IMO):

1. API allows third party apps to use Cortana for voice commands
2. Cortana's "Notebook" allows you to manage your personalized interests, etc.
Click to expand...

Oh wow. Now it is even cooler
 
S

Salmonax

Member
Coming from Microsoft, I actually find the use of Cortana refreshingly playful.

But I can't help but think it's a missed opportunity to bring back Bob.
 
G

glaringradio

Member
Does it have customisable voice commands? Can I whistle at it and it'll make it open up a certain app, or make it set an alarm/reminder for a specific time? If it doesn't, oh well, waste of time.
 
P

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Not Spaceghost said:
Lmfao I bet if you pointed it out to him he'd be like YEAH DUDE IT'S A 250 DOLLAR TUNGSTEN RING. HARDEST MATERIAL ON EARTH WORTH EVERY PENNY.
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Lol you can find carbide rings for like $10-20 on Amazon. $50 at brick and mortar jewelry wholesale stores.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
glaringradio said:
Does it have customisable voice commands? Can I whistle at it and it'll make it open up a certain app, or make it set an alarm/reminder for a specific time? If it doesn't, oh well, waste of time.
Click to expand...

It uses plain language. So you can do the following:

"set an alarm for 730 am tomorrow and remind me I need to troll neogaf" and it actually works. I just tested that in a very loud room.

Now I need to cancel that reminder because that's annoying.


Edit: I just said "cancel my alarm tomorrow" and she did.
 
N

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
KrellRell said:
Hey man, don't knock tungsten, legit ring material. Just don't buy it at inflated prices, my wedding ring was like $10.
Click to expand...

Naw dude I ain't knockin tungsten, it's really cool but a lot of people I find that wear it buy it inflated as hell for the "novelty" aspect.

Phobophile said:
Lol you can find carbide rings for like $10-20 on Amazon. $50 at brick and mortar jewelry wholesale stores.
Click to expand...

Yep that's more like it.

But seriously back on topic, I wonder if cortana will actually be able to compete with siri or the "okay google now" services or if it will be seen as more of a gimmick dude to its video game "heritage"
 
A

Alphahawk

Member
Loch Doun said:
I hope they put in some fun Halo easter eggs.
Click to expand...

I hope Microsoft just goes all out, and adds some mention of Cortana's past as a "digital assistant" to some of the Halo lore. It would be awesome if it was clear that you weren't holding a product named after a character, but the character themselves.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Alphahawk said:
I hope Microsoft just goes all out, and adds some mention of Cortana's past as a "digital assistant" to some of the Halo lore. It would be awesome if it was clear that you weren't holding a product named after a character, but the charter themselves.
Click to expand...

Xboxstradamus.
 
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