Microsoft Announces Siri Competitor Cortana, Coming With Windows Phone 8.1

[rei101]

Very exotic-sounding name. When I hear 'Cortana', I envision an Amazonian woman wearing leopard skin around her hips with large juicy breasts.

CORRRR-TANA!!

Yeah, very cheese Star Trek sort of costume.

Personally, I do not use Siri for anything. Is one of those overrated features that does not accomplish anything at the end, just a distraction.

 

[wigby]

You don't have to press down on the button to activate Touch ID. It uses the metal ring to detect your finger and then it activates itself.

Except that most people are waking their phone up when using Touch ID which does require a button push. So if you hold the push too long it activates Siri. It's happened to me a few times and happens to old people constantly.

 

[brianvictor7]

Where's a good place to find Thai food around here?

"Just a sec......


....hmm that's strange....


....uh oh....


A fatal exception OE has occurred at 0028:C0011E36 in VXD VMM(1) + 00010E36. The current application will be terminated.

* Press any key to terminate the current application.
* Press CTRL+ALT+DEL again to restart your computer. You will lose any unsaved information in all your applications.

Press any key to continue _ "


I knew this Windows phone thing was a bad idea...

LOL! Best joke of the day! Well, I'm willing to give Microsoft a chance here. Let's see what they come up with.

 

[NT1440]

Maybe they are pandering to a younger male crowd because virtually every male under 40 probably has played Halo by now. By the same token, I wonder how this will go over with the female demographic. Cortana's avatar is, well, a bit risque.

Exactly, you have instant name recognition with millions of the core demographic for personal tech.

 

[krewger]

I still think her fully name will be Ms. Clippy Cortana.

 

[Jeff750]

I use Siri all the time

I use Siri all the time. I use it a lot to text someone as I'm walking, for instance.

 

[aleksoctop]

Maybe Siri will improve after this comes out.

 

[AustinIllini]

I use Siri all the time. I use it a lot to text someone as I'm walking, for instance.

Try doing it with google now. It's better. Also, Google now can do 100 different things better, including telling you when to leave for a meeting at a different location. So far ahead of Siri at this point.

 

[brianvictor7]

Yup. As a matter of fact, their mobile OS feels good, smooth, easy to use and learn, and it's quite customizable. A pity that there aren't as many apps yet (compared to what can be found in iOS's and Android's ecosystem), but I had the chance to use a windows phone for 11 days, and it really was a pleasure, I can't deny it.
And it IS different from iOS, not a bad copy like Android.
And it's much better than Android.
In terms of quality for mobile OS, the obvious two choices, in my opinion, are iOS and windows phone (I haven't yet tried Ubuntu and Mozilla's OSs).

PS: Sorry for my english

Thanks for the honest evaluation. While I can't see myself going to a Windows phone, it is an interesting interface.

 

[wigby]

Its just a waste of space. Isn't it still in beta after all these years?

Turning it off doesn't give you additional space.

I hope it's still in beta. It's still learning and will continue to grow for years. As far as any connectivity and server issues, I haven't had problems with Siri in over a year.

 

[T-Will]

Hope Apple is starting to feel the heat of competition.

Siri API, where are you??

 

[ks-man]

What is strange about the whole Siri/GNow/Cortana is that in the past Apple wasn't known for doing something first yet rather doing it best. They saved the company on that with the iPod.

Now they are releasing some things first and others are doing it better. They are focusing instead on fighting battles in court and trying to protect their "inventions".

I just wonder if they'd be better off accepting the environment as it is and get back to focusing on what is currently out there and how they could make it better.

 

[jeremysteele]

Well, competition is always good.

If it works better than Siri, I'm all for it. At least for me, Siri works great for simple commands like "Call Mom" "Call Dad", but anything past that it totally messes up. Just the other day I asked for the temperature, which 9/10 works fine, but it pulls up a recipe for a chicken dinner. Like... the heck?

Weird glitches like that seem to be a fairly common issue with most of these voice assistants though. I'm sure they'll get better over time, as they gather more data on speech style.

It's not Cortana until the interface is this.

Image

If it it was like that - it would be a matter of 5 seconds before some nerd jailbroke it and had her dancing.

 

[brianvictor7]

It's not Cortana until the interface is this.

[url equals http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130129121100/halo/de/images/thumb/0/07/Cortana_halo_4.png/250px-Cortana_halo_4.png]Image[/url]

Really. Not safe for work. Bothers me also that it rather objectifies women.

 

[Rogifan]

Interface looks cooler . Msft trying to shake things up the new CEO is getting sht done!!!

Meh not crazy about it. Especially the gray box at the bottom.

----------

Hope Apple is starting to feel the heat of competition.

Siri API, where are you??

Ask Scott Forstall.

 

[MellowFuzz]

Microsoft to Apple : don't be complacent.

 

[slffl]

I hope it works better than the POS voice recognition on the Xbox One.

 

[jennyp]

Siri is fine on my iPad but she kept coming up on my iPhone 5S by accident with Touch ID so had to turn her off.

That happened with me at first but I soon got into the habit of just briefly touching the home button on my 5s with my thumb tip to wake the device up, and then just letting my broader thumb area rest on it (without pressing) to activate the touch ID and unlock it. Then if I want Siri I press and hold.

Agreed. I played with Siri as has my wife. We found it an amusing thing but not actually useful in any way...

That is weird. I find Siri really useful. I ask her to remind me things, take notes, ask questions, the weather - what's not to like? I find it really works.

This MS version looks good, biut I have to say it also looks like a copy of something Apple had first.

 

[slffl]

No. And I use Siri all the time, so I'm glad it's on my iPhone.

I use Siri daily and it's awesome!

 

[JayCee842]

He's got a mess to clean up for sure, but Cortana has been in development for a while.

Yup, his comment made no sense to me.

 

[slffl]

Interface looks cooler . Msft trying to shake things up the new CEO is getting sht done!!!

Ya because the new CEO, who's been there for just a few months, is responsible for all of the recent Microsoft releases. That's some amazing efficiency right there.

 

[T-Will]

Ask Scott Forstall.

Searching the internet for "Scott Forstall"...

 

[xxnemoxx]

Very exotic-sounding name. When I hear 'Cortana', I envision an Amazonian woman wearing leopard skin around her hips with large juicy breasts.

CORRRR-TANA!!

I present to you CORTANA & FRIENDS!!

 

[brianvictor7]

This MS version looks good, biut I have to say it also looks like a copy of something Apple had first.

This is par for the course where Microsoft is concerned. They did, after, copy the windows OS from Macintosh's. On the other hand, any voice control system from now on is going resemble the next one. Apple just did it better than anyone else first. Let the competition grow!

 

[ucantgetridofme]

This is par for the course where Microsoft is concerned. They did, after, copy the windows OS from Macintosh's. On the other hand, any voice control system from now on is going resemble the next one. Apple just did it better than anyone else first. Let the competition grow!

Smoke another one