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Microsoft Launches New Cortana vs. Siri Ad Showing Off Context-Aware Reminders

Michael Goff said:
Translation: Apple didn't do it, so it doesn't matter.
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It doesn't matter who does it, I think people still have brains today, so we have the capability of remembering something as simple as "buy some flowers" when you go to a flower shop.
I've never used Siri to make a reminder. I've actually never used the reminders app because I use my brain.
 
the8thark said:
The old Mac vs PC ads were indeed also PC vs PC ads. As every Mac is also a personal computer.
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But that definition is useless here, since all computers intended for personal use are PCs. It also means that Macs and at least Windows Ultimate Mega Plus or what ever, are not PCs since they can have many user accounts and many simultaneously logged in users.

When someone say PC, especially in the context "Mac vs PC", I bet most people think of the derivative from the original proprietary IBM PC contrasted with the Mac.

From the beginning this was the only machine that ran Microsofts OS. Then Compaq reverse engineered BIOS and created an IBM PC compatible computer (a clone). IBM sued Compaq, IBM lost. Which is the reason that the PC became an "open" platform that could run Microsoft's OS. IBM's loss meant that many vendors could enter and make hardware that conformed to this spec and run Microsofts OS. The IBM PC transformed into WinTel which guided this standard forward. The BIOS was the proprietary part, no Mac has ever used BIOS. And if IBM would have won, the personal computer landscape would look very different today, who knows if Microsoft would even still exists.
 
I have never been a Windows phone fan, but I have to say I'm digging the design and UI of the phone in featured against the iPhone.
 
Siri is absolutely horrible. The few times a week I (try to) use her she either takes too long to respond, or comes back with something that I'm not sure how she got. Dictation is even worse. She'll only get about 75% of what I say.
 
And because it's a Microsoft product, you know it works exactly as advertised.

Not sure how many :rolleyes:'s I should insert here.

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Prof. said:
Siri is absolutely horrible. The few times a week I (try to) use her she either takes too long to respond, or comes back with something that I'm not sure how she got. Dictation is even worse. She'll only get about 75% of what I say.
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It's curious how divergent the opinions on Siri are. I've loved it from day one. I've rarely had problems with it. I schedule reminders for myself, take notes, send text messages, get directions. It rarely fails me. Siri catches almost every syllable I speak and I'm occasionally discovering new functionality that Apple has never even advertised (just recently discovered that you can ask for "calories in <type of food>" and she pulls that info from some database somewhere.)

Why you think that's "absolutely horrible" is beyond me, but I use it daily.

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MH01 said:
Halo

Here are the interactions been her and the master chief.

http://youtu.be/-IX6HLRUWbY

Quite brilliant marketing movie from Microsoft . She has to be one of the best know assistants ;) based on video games
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Yeah, that's brilliant. Tie your new product into one of your buggiest hardware releases ever. Wonder what the RRoD looks like on a Windows phone.
 
coolfactor said:
iOS 8 brings a lot more of Siri onto the device, no Internet connection required.
Again, changing in iOS 8.
This is a good idea. Tell Apple. www.apple.com/feedback
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I'll be sure to tell them, thanks.

Regarding iOS 8, what are the changes exactly ? I've been running it all the way from Seed 1 to Seed 4 and it says "Siri not available - Connect to the Internet" and it doesn't recognize my English more than any previous version. Nor does it ask me to confirm if I want to make a call or not.

PS : I meant Automator, not Automatic :D
PS2 : Just reported my idea to Apple, and put in a few great examples. That could really be a hit :)
 
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shk718 said:
The problems with ad's like these is the features are extremely easy for Apple to add, and most people don't use the AI/voice recognition features of their phones. So I find it funny that everyone is in a heated debate regarding one of the the least used features of their phone.
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yep, 4 years in and they nearly have it implemented.
 
inkswamp said:
It's curious how divergent the opinions on Siri are. I've loved it from day one. I've rarely had problems with it. I schedule reminders for myself, take notes, send text messages, get directions. It rarely fails me. Siri catches almost every syllable I speak and I'm occasionally discovering new functionality that Apple has never even advertised (just recently discovered that you can ask for "calories in <type of food>" and she pulls that info from some database somewhere.)

Why you think that's "absolutely horrible" is beyond me, but I use it daily.
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When I first got my iPhone 5s, Siri understood 100% of what I said (iOS 7.0). Slowly she began to get worse and worse with each subsequent update. I tried texting my boyfriend the other day using Siri and she got several words wrong and didn't even finish typing the second half of the sentence. Even simple questions like: "What's the weather like toady?" takes her solid 30 seconds to to respond. At that point it's faster to unlock my iPhone and open the weather app.:eek::(

Siri used to be amazing, even on my 4s, but somewhere along the road she lost her glam. I'm confident Apple will update her with iOS 8 and iOS 9.
 
Rettun1 said:
Remember when Halo was supposed to be released as a Mac OS exclusive?

o_O
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nah I wasn't on the net then so didn't follow stuff like I do now, and I didn't like halo the first time I played. I even returned it :eek: played years later and couldn't believe myself :mad:
 
Lel the fact that all these companies attack apples iPhone in there ads is proof that even they know that iPhone is the most popular phone out there and the biggest threat. But cortona does look a lot better than Siri I can't even lie
 
lovewd said:
Lel the fact that all these companies attack apples iPhone in there ads is proof that even they know that iPhone is the most popular phone out there and the biggest threat. But cortona does look a lot better than Siri I can't even lie
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Watch Shark Tank, it is called educating the user. You have to "Educate" the user, if the improvements isn't obvious by looking at / using it. It is to tell them why they should buy X over the current leader (iPhone), and it is a very costly thing in PR.
 
These kind of ads are good for iPhone users...

You can debate on details of exaggeration, but some of Apple's features need a lot of improvement, and Apple doesn't necessarily listen to us users. But we can hope that when another company points out flaws in such a public way, Apple might take the shortcomings more seriously.
 
MacRumors said:
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Microsoft today launched a new commercial comparing its new Cortana virtual assistant to Apple's virtual assistant Siri, demonstrating how the former is able to perform contextually-aware tasks using a number of services.

YouTube: video​
Titled "Happy Anniversary", the commercial shows Cortana and Windows Phone 8.1 running on the Nokia Lumia 635 as the narrator makes commands related around a wedding anniversary. First, the narrator asks Cortana to remind him to wish his wife a happy birthday he next time she calls, as the voice assistant schedules a reminder around the call. Meanwhile, Siri does not comply to the request.

The narrator then asks Cortana to remind him to get roses when he comes near any flower shop, while Siri once again does not comply. Finally, Cortana automatically gives a traffic reminder prompting the narrator to leave before traffic delays, as Siri finishes by saying "Now that is a smart phone."

This is the first time that Microsoft has demonstrated its new Cortana voice assistant against Siri, however the company has used Siri's voice to poke fun at the iPad in the past. Cortana was originally announced in April alongside Windows Phone 8.1, as Microsoft touted the virtual assistant's ability to tie reminders and tasks around people and locations. Notably, a Windows Phone manager said last month that the company wants Cortana to be "pervasive" among mobile platforms, perhaps indicating that Microsoft could expand Cortana to iOS and Android.

Article Link: Microsoft Launches New Cortana vs. Siri Ad Showing Off Context-Aware Reminders
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Do people buy iphone for siri?? neither microsoft phone!!!
 
subsonix said:
Yeah, but I'm not comparing them either.
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They're similar in the sense that they are attacking the competition. Apple doesn't do it now for the same reason MS didn't do it back during Window's heyday in the late 90's to mid 00's, but in the past, they have.

When your competitor has a product with a much larger marketshare and mindshare, you'll want to make advertisements that point out the weaknesses of their stuff in comparison to yours. When you're in the opposite position, you don't need to worry about attack ads, just enforcing the position of your product.

It's marketing 101. It has nothing to do with taste or style. Apple's just as guilty of doing it as anyone else.
 
Renzatic said:
They're similar in the sense that they are attacking the competition. Apple doesn't do it now for the same reason MS didn't do it back during Window's heyday in the late 90's to mid 00's, but in the past, they have.
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Yes. But that's my entire point. It's interesting because it shows how the balance of market share has shifted. It's not news of course, but it's interesting. Edit: I already clarified this in post #147 btw.
 
Arran said:
I see usability issues:

  1. When the person calls, instead of letting you to talk, the OS distracts you with a reminder popup. That could be quite annoying.
  2. What if that person never calls you?

Why not just call them first - if it's that important? And if it's not that important, why are you creating reminders?

I think there's a reason Apple left this out.
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You don't understand.
1. It is only going to give silent reminders on top of the call notification if you call that person or that person calls you.
2. Not only call, even if you message or email that person you'll get the reminder.

It's a nifty feature if you have to communicate with a lot of people. Especially when you are organizing an event or something like that.
 
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