Windows Phone 8.1 brings a new look and a Siri rival named Cortana

[Mio Akiyama]

[IMG]http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/entry_photo_images/10086691/cortana640_verge_super_wide.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE]"I'm thrilled for you all to now meet our truly personal digital assistant for Windows Phone," says Joe Belfiore as he introduces the Bing-powered Cortana voice assistant. Belfiore is demonstrating all the new features in Windows Phone 8.1 at [URL="http://live.theverge.com/microsoft-build-2014-live-blog/"]Microsoft's Build conference[/URL], with Cortana being the major highlight.

Cortana is very much Microsoft's answer to Apple's Siri, Samsung's S Voice, and all the other voice assists software suites out there. It lets you manage basic phone functions, set appointments, perform searches, play back music, and set so-called quiet hours when only your inner circle of contacts may reach you. Similar to Google Now, Cortana learns from the web searches you perform and the locations you frequent to try and provide contextually sensitive and timely information.

Visually, Cortana is represented by a circular icon that adopts the same color scheme as your Windows Phone theme. It also pulsates when she speaks and rotates when searching for an answer. One of its cool functions demoed by Belfiore is the ability to answer incomplete questions, such as "how about in Celsius?" following the initial query of "what's the temperature in Las Vegas?" The [I]Halo[/I]-inspired voice assistant will launch in beta in the United States, with the UK and China being among the first countries to get it afterwards.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/2/5573400/windows-phone-8-1-cortana-at-build[/url]

[joshuadim]

[QUOTE]Visually, Cortana is represented by a circular icon that adopts the same color scheme as your Windows Phone theme.[/QUOTE]

And 50 years from now she will look like a miniature human being.

[Zombie]

Is it actually gonna be voiced by Cortana from Halo?

[Zalador]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_YL5S2NwkE[/media]

Doesn't sound like Jen Taylor.

[joshuadim]

[QUOTE=Petrussen;44431514][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_YL5S2NwkE[/media]

Doesn't sound like Jen Taylor.[/QUOTE]

In 50 years she will be exactly like her... ;)

[Zonesylvania]

Is there a clause in the warranty that allows for replacement in case of Rampancy?

[meppers]

the voice quality isn't as good as siri or google now

[uzikus]

Yeah, that's cool. But too bad it won't be available, or at least not much of use in other languages.

[Blackwheel]

[QUOTE=meppers;44431777]the voice quality isn't as good as siri or google now[/QUOTE]

Ya I hope that was just a camera issue from the Verge.

[arlygoodbrownie]

[video=youtube;FhtYIAxLl8g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhtYIAxLl8g[/video]

Another video covering it.

[Mio Akiyama]

[video=youtube;FhtYIAxLl8g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhtYIAxLl8g[/video]
fixed

[KorJax]

General overview of 8.1 (also goes into Cortana)

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAu0YgPnuXM[/media]

[ARitz Cracker]

We can change the voice, right?
I still like the "Microsoft Mark" male voice that's currently installed on my phone. There's something about it's text-to-speech simplicity that I like.

[editline]3rd April 2014[/editline]

[QUOTE=KorJax;44436241]General overview of 8.1 (also goes into Cortana)

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAu0YgPnuXM[/media][/QUOTE]

Oh my god... that looks amazing.

[C O Y O T E]

Any sign of if Cortana will be released for desktop Windows as well? :v: