Microsoft Pits Cortana Against Siri in New Ad Showcasing Contextual Reminders, Traffic Alerts

[JackANSI]

While Siri isn't perfect I get better answers in most cases, and you don't have to address your phone by "name" ...

Q: "When is my next alarm?"
A: "You have three alarms set. The next one is set for 8:00. It isn't on though."
And yes, it does provide my list of alarms. Useful if I want to turn one on or off.

Q: "Did it freeze last night?"
A: "OK, I found this on the web for [...]"
It fails there because it doesn't seem to understand the context of "freeze". If I ask if it was "below zero" then it does say it can't get past weather information.

Q: "Do I have any mail?"
A: "You have at least 25 emails since February 1, 2012"
Here it shows my email inbox, old and new, and my oldest message is from the date above. All good information. If I change the query to "Do I have any new mail?" I get only my unread emails.

Finally, I get the point you want to make with your last question, but Siri is handy for searches as well.
If you ask Siri "Search Tom Landry" it will open Safari and search "Tom Landry" with Bing. If you ask "Google Tom Landry" it does the same but with Google's search engine.

I definitely see the need for Siri to improve, but I am not of the mind that the service is useless. It's good and getting better, Apple may just need to work a little faster.

Siri can also turn those alarms on and off via voice command (one at a time though, I think).

I actually use Siri to help me wake up by having it read any new emails.

But yes there is plenty of room left for improvement if Apple felt like putting the resources in it.

 

[mainstreetmark]

While Siri isn't perfect I get better answers in most cases, and you don't have to address your phone by "name" ...

Q: "When is my next alarm?"
A: "You have three alarms set. The next one is set for 8:00. It isn't on though."
And yes, it does provide my list of alarms. Useful if I want to turn one on or off.

Q: "Did it freeze last night?"
A: "OK, I found this on the web for [...]"
It fails there because it doesn't seem to understand the context of "freeze". If I ask if it was "below zero" then it does say it can't get past weather information.

Q: "Do I have any mail?"
A: "You have at least 25 emails since February 1, 2012"
Here it shows my email inbox, old and new, and my oldest message is from the date above. All good information. If I change the query to "Do I have any new mail?" I get only my unread emails.

Finally, I get the point you want to make with your last question, but Siri is handy for searches as well.
If you ask Siri "Search Tom Landry" it will open Safari and search "Tom Landry" with Bing. If you ask "Google Tom Landry" it does the same but with Google's search engine.

I definitely see the need for Siri to improve, but I am not of the mind that the service is useless. It's good and getting better, Apple may just need to work a little faster.

I was driving along and heard NPR talk about invasive "Giant African Snails". Naturally, I'd say "Show me a picture of a giant african snail". I could never get Siri to understand. In the end, I opened safari + keyboard + microphone and googled it with voice.

This makes siri, in my mind, a "learn what to say to it" service, instead of a "learn what not to say to it" service. If you know how to ask a question, it's just fine, but it's knowing the questions it knows that's the frustrating part.

 

[coolfactor]

Is that a realistic representation of Cortana? Does she talk with a smile, and so naturally?

 

[brianvictor7]

No.

"Hey Siri" will be way more useful when NOT plugged in. If my phone is plugged in, usually I'm away from my phone so how often is "Hey Siri" useful. Now, if I have my phone on me, and let's say I'm typing something, something springs to mind, I just say "Hey Siri" and not have to do the annoying hold down for 2-3 seconds to bring up Siri. Not to mention you need to time it right or you will quickly bring up Siri and it then will quickly close.

Be careful what you wish for! I was in a business meeting with my phone plugged in and Siri thought someone was talking to him. Embarrassment ensued.

And what will we do when EVERYONE has that feature and someone in a room says, "Hey Siri?" <EEK!>

That said, Siri doesn't hear me very well if music is playing or the room is loud, but that is to be expected for now I guess.

 

[TwoBytes]

I'd like Siri to send me warnings to leave early based on traffic. Nice Microsoft. Siri has stagnated a bit..

 

[swordfish5736]

 

[JackANSI]

The Hodgman/Long commercials never mocked the USER of a device though - Microsoft's tend not to either (though they are a lot less playful than the classic Mac/PC ads), but Samsung really leans hard on making fun of Apple users.

I don't think I was talking about the Samsung ones since this thread is about Microsoft ones. So far I don't think there is one from MS that is ripping on the users.

Heck the "I'm a Mac" commercials were sort of trying to imply that all PC people were geeky with no style. The Cortana v Siri ones are just one phone ripping on another.

I also think the ad in the lead post is pretty darn playful, at least as good as some in the "I'm a Mac" series (and better than most).

 

[SixtyK]

^^
I have the same experience as petsounds. I asked Siri if I had any new email and it returned a list of all my unread emails. I asked when my next alarm was snd Siri responded that I have 3 alarms with the next one being Monday morning at 5am.

How dare you bring facts into this.

 

[yogeewan]

Siri in comparison

I tend to agree with this sequence of ads. There are definitely a lot more non-gimmicky uses for voice based inputs in both google now and cortana that definitely seem like they are putting a lot more effort, especially globally. Siri is quite a disaster in any other country apart from the US. This is slowly becoming apple's MobileMe.

And I'm definitely apple ecosystem embedded for anything else!

 

[Windlasher]

I could see being able to say to Siri, "Remind me to ask my wife......." and then seeing that reminder pop up on the screen when I go to answer or make a call from to her being pretty useful, actually.

Pick up your phone and say SIRI - remind me to BLAH BLAH BLAH on December 15th, 2015... She does it. Its nice - Im going to try the "when she calls thing". than would be cool.

Some of these people complaining about what she doesn't do have tried it or are doing it wrong. There is some syntax to learn but overall, its pretty useful.

 

[SixtyK]

I could see being able to say to Siri, "Remind me to ask my wife......." and then seeing that reminder pop up on the screen when I go to answer or make a call from/to her being pretty useful, actually.

I just tried "Remind me to ask [DAUGHTER] how her day was."

Seemed to work for me. I can see how it would be handy to set how/when the reminder comes up but that would be a function of Reminders, not Siri.

 

[vampyr]

I always thought that a company could not use the intellectual property rights of another company without permission in marketing ads?

Isn't even the voice of Siri considered intellectual property rights? I'm pretty sure Microsoft is not allowed to use it.

 

[IslandLife]

Why?

Considering how messy Apple is at the moment, Windows is becoming more attractive again. If you already pay a premium for a device, you'd expect it to work flawlessly (and not to be as buggy as Yosemite or unfinished as iWork for iCloud for example).

Really, xSeaside? Have you even touched a device with Yosemite, iWork, or iCloud on it recently. Is it flawless? Of course not. But "messy?" You're out of your mind. And, how much did you pay for Yosemite? Quite a premium, is it?

 

[HenryDJP]

Pointless comment. So if Apple has so much bigger marketshare, why is Siri so far behind on features?

And now YOUR argument is pointless. Microsoft for the last 15 years has had more marketshare on Windows desktop than the Mac OS. Yet Microsoft has been behind on features for many years, endlessly playing catchup with Apple to try and attract more people to like using Windiws rather than being forced to use it.

 

[Kissaragi]

Does seem like siri is getting behind both google and microsoft now unfortunately.

 

[HenryDJP]

Siri is not as advanced as Cortana in many areas. I don't think this is up for dispute. The question is does the average user care yet? I hope they do. I want these assistants to improve. The faster we improve AI, the sooner we'll be able to get more work done. This is good progress (provided they don't go all Terminator on us )

I would rather have iOS working better than worrying about some damn assistant.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Oh Snap... but seriously Microsoft just give it a rest and go weep in the corner.

Yes, you just keep believing that. Times, they are a'changing...bread isn't a nickel anymore, either.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Kinda sucks when you know that Apple might respond to this rather than customer feedback.

Thanks Microsoft for being of more value here than Apple's feedback site.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[HenryDJP]

Yes, you just keep believing that. Times, they are a'changing...bread isn't a nickel anymore, either.

Exactly what did that member say that rendered you to post that comment? Your comment has no relevance to that post you replied to.

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Kinda sucks when you know that Apple might respond to this rather than customer feedback.

Thanks Microsoft for being of more value here than Apple's feedback site.

Glassed Silver:mac

Microsoft ads are not trashing Apple either like many people do here daily.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Exactly what did that member say that rendered you to post that comment? Your comment has no relevance to that post you replied to.

His implied reference that Microsoft is some loser company that can't do anything right (an old assumption), when in fact, they are actually innovating unlike some other companies I know...

 

[brianvictor7]

I would rather have iOS working better than worrying about some damn assistant.

No argument there though I'd like both. IMHO, iOS 8 is doing well, but there is always rooom for improvement.

 

[HenryDJP]

His implied reference that Microsoft is some loser company that can't do anything right (an old assumption), when in fact, they are actually innovating unlike some other companies I know...

Well I agree. I wouldn't call Microsoft a loser, because they're not. But I disagree in regards to them innovating. What innovations? The Surface Pro 3 has no real innovations, it just has good specs. I don't see any innovations coming from Microsoft. Sounds like you're suggesting that Apple doesn't innovate? If so I wholeheartedly disagree with you. Almost every tech company ends up going the direction Apple goes.

 

[ChazSch]

no matter what, Cortana is a way stupider name than Siri.


hands down

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I just tried "Remind me to ask [DAUGHTER] how her day was."

Image

Seemed to work for me. I can see how it would be handy to set how/when the reminder comes up but that would be a function of Reminders, not Siri.

why can we not know your daughters name? I assume its a name millions of people have. That is waaay to conspiracy theory

 

[Archer1440]

Interestingly, Siri has a much nicer sounding voice in Japanese.

Unfortunately, saying "Hey Siri" to your phone in Japan would be rather embarrassing.

The word "siri" means "butt" in Japanese.

 

[JackANSI]

Be careful what you wish for! I was in a business meeting with my phone plugged in and Siri thought someone was talking to him. Embarrassment ensued.

And what will we do when EVERYONE has that feature and someone in a room says, "Hey Siri?" <EEK!>

That said, Siri doesn't hear me very well if music is playing or the room is loud, but that is to be expected for now I guess.

Best "hey siri" story I have is about the one sound guy I work with from time to time.

He had his iPhone plugged in and everything was ready to go for the night (he has a nice remote controlled mixer and was charging up). This guy is a pretty "tough guy" and usually wears a band shirt from the harder side of music. So being a bit of a smart ### I say "Hey siri, play backstreet boys" and lo-and-behold Siri replies with a backstreet boys song (said something like "playing backstreet boys shuffled"). The look of dread, fear, and shock on this guy's face was priceless.