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Microsoft Considering Expanding Cortana Virtual Assistant to iOS and Android
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What if a web search is all it needs to do to deliver the same results?
If a user were to grant full privacy rights to the app, then M$ could copy/sync all the phone contents to their servers, and do all the indexing, searching, predictive analysis, and presentation of relevant data from those servers.
That might be more effective than trying to replace siri at the device level, but would require an internet connection (which siri requires anyway).
As long as the user knows what they are signing up for, and has no problems with that, then I don't see why it couldn't technically be possible.
I think that Apple would like to prevent this on the grounds of "repeating functionality" and "causing confusion to their users." And I actually do agree that it would confuse their users. People are still warming up to the idea of Siri, and something new and similar would just be too much for most to handle well.
I doubt most people will install this and use it, except for the super-geeks to see how it works, and perhaps a few others for more M$/Outlook/OneDrive integration. I'm not sure what the Enterprise response would be.
Most people will stay with Siri or use nothing at all.
There are still a lot of people that assume Siri doesn't work, or don't like the idea of talking to a digital assistant on thier devices. There are still a lot of people that are amazed when I'm able to send an imessage or add a new reminder (which can create a new Evernote note) with Siri now. They think the most siri can do is play a song or do a web search, and that it isn't particularly good at those either.
Cortana could be interesting, but I'm excited for what Siri will bring in the future.
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Yeah exactly, I'm glad someone else gets the frustration. At least OS X asks first if you want to restart now or later.
So does Windows, though it has a tendency to harass you every 45 minutes until you do. With Win8, it at least gives you a three day heads up that it has a restart pending.
Did you forget about Office for Mac? Remote Desktop? One Note?
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Agreed
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I agree with you on Android. It's a fugly interface. Windows Phone actually has a polished interface as well as iOS. I would certainly switch to Windows Phone from my iPhone if it ever came a time I did not like Apple's business.
I can honestly say I don't think many Android devices would sell if it couldn't be rooted.
Honestly?.. U do realise that probably 1% of androids are maybe rooted.. It's only for super tech heads..
And with the quote that the android interface is fugly... Wow.. bar Google devices are other handsets have a slightly different interface.. but it's still essentially icons and widgets... Or just icons if u wants.... As opposed to just.... Icons... I can see how you think ios is beautiful...
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Is a restart every 3 weeks a frustration?..
Oh yeah definitely. I have a lot of things open in various programs and restarting is a pain. Given that every Windows has improved upon uptime, why can't I take advantage of it?
I find it kinda funny how I was going on about automatic updates not being a problem, you get plenty of warnings it does reboot, and all that good stuff, cuz...I just had a problem with it.
I'm sitting around, rendering some stuff, when I suddenly get a warning splash up on my screen telling me my comp's gonna restart in 15 minutes. No problem, right? I tell it to wait, and go on my merry way.
About 15 minutes pass, and the computer just up and shuts itself down without any heads up whatsoever so it can update itself. I mean I got NO warning. One second I'm all happy, the next I'm looking at the shutdown screen and that stupid spinning circle that I swear looked like it was mocking me. I probably lost about a good half hour worth of work.
I want to find out where Bill Gates lives, and I want to key his big stupid car. GAWWWW!
I'm sitting around, rendering some stuff, when I suddenly get a warning splash up on my screen telling me my comp's gonna restart in 15 minutes. No problem, right? I tell it to wait, and go on my merry way.
About 15 minutes pass, and the computer just up and shuts itself down without any heads up whatsoever so it can update itself. I mean I got NO warning. One second I'm all happy, the next I'm looking at the shutdown screen and that stupid spinning circle that I swear looked like it was mocking me. I probably lost about a good half hour worth of work.
I want to find out where Bill Gates lives, and I want to key his big stupid car. GAWWWW!
I think Cortana on iOS would be useless. Microsoft copied Siri and Google Now to catch up. Why would an iOS user stop using Siri in favor of a copied MS version? Apple had and has vision on how it wants Siri to work in iOS. Microsoft is just a "me too-er". I doubt MS releasing it to Android or iOS will "wow" folks to leave the platform in favor of Windows Phone.
I also think Microsoft needs to think its phone strategy through. They have it tied in with XBOX Live Gamer Tags and it's ridiculous. Me and a friend tried playing each other on a game called UNO & Friends. Well on iOS, you can sign in with your FaceBook account and reach out to your friends from there. on Windows Phone, you have to sign in with your XBOX Live account with no other social networking options. Microsoft apparently believes everyone wants to own an XBOX and needs to be gamer.
This same silliness rears it's ugly head when they named their assistant Cortana. Yea, a lot of Halo fanboy geeks probably jumped for joy hearing that name and voice on the phone, but many adults probably rolled their eyes if they even paid attention at all. Microsoft needs to kick the geeks out the board room when they are brainstorming ideas for professional products that they want to get mainstream traction.
I also think Microsoft needs to think its phone strategy through. They have it tied in with XBOX Live Gamer Tags and it's ridiculous. Me and a friend tried playing each other on a game called UNO & Friends. Well on iOS, you can sign in with your FaceBook account and reach out to your friends from there. on Windows Phone, you have to sign in with your XBOX Live account with no other social networking options. Microsoft apparently believes everyone wants to own an XBOX and needs to be gamer.
This same silliness rears it's ugly head when they named their assistant Cortana. Yea, a lot of Halo fanboy geeks probably jumped for joy hearing that name and voice on the phone, but many adults probably rolled their eyes if they even paid attention at all. Microsoft needs to kick the geeks out the board room when they are brainstorming ideas for professional products that they want to get mainstream traction.
I never held an Android that had a fluid interface. Clicking on an app felt delayed quite often than not. Swiping didn't feel smooth. Android doesn't come close to what Windows Phone OS and iOS is.
Because even though it's a "copy", I hear it does quite a few things better than either Siri and (to a lesser extent) Google Now.
I'd say Siri's alright. It has its occasional uses, but considering how tightly Apple has it tied down, I'd say it's more a fluff feature than an actual useful tool. Google Now and Cortana look more like something I'd use on a daily basis.
why should he/she? The majority of Windows phones still dont have this update. And the majority of windows phones sold will not have the hardware to run this update. The same as the majority of Android phones can't run Google now well because of hardware limitations.
(Also it's kinda funny when everyone so conveniently ignores the fact that a large number of Android phones are sold in China, where Google effectively has no control over the software. As a matter of fact, many alternative app stores exist in China. I doubt they even have Google now on their phones.)
Well yeah, the vast majority of windows phone don't have this update because it's not out yet. It's coming out next week sometime. Plus, as far as I know, every single WP8 phone out there should be able to run the 8.1 update.
