Microsoft Brings Cortana Into the Real World

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
Microsoft Brings Cortana Into the Real World


Cortana, the famous AI from Halo, will soon step into the real world as Microsoft's answer to Apple's vaunted Siri personal assistant technology.

I don't know if Apple's Siri is quite all it was cracked up to be prior to launch but it is pretty cool, and like it or not yammering at your phone is the way of the future. So Microsoft is pulling a familiar name out of its bag of tricks for its Windows Phone operating system: Cortana.

Cortana is relevant to gamers because (as I probably don't need to explain) it's the name of the AI in the Halo series who serves as an assistant and informational gatekeeper to the Master Chief. The app actually first saw the light of day back in June as "zCortana," the "z" indicating that it was a test build, but it didn't really attract any attention; since then, however, a couple of well-placed sources have indicated that Microsoft has big plans for its Siri competitor.

In July, outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer said [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2013/jul13/07-11memo.aspx], "Our UI will be deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world. Our shell will natively support all of our essential services, and will be great at responding seamlessly to what people ask for, and even anticipating what they need before they ask for it."

A couple of weeks later, Bing Senior Director Stefan Weitz described Siri and Google Now as having "a fairly shallow understanding of the world" and told CNet [http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57596042-75/microsofts-bing-seeks-enlightenment-with-satori/], "We could come out with something now like them, but it wouldn't be state of the art. It's too constrained to be an agent now. We are not shipping until we have something more revolutionary than evolutionary."

Of course, it's just a code name for an app that may very well be changed to something more "Microsoft-ish" by the time it launches ("Bing Assistant Device" seems about par for the course) but for the moment, it's a cool, fun idea that, if put to proper use, might even score the company a little bit of lasting hipness. That's something that Windows Phones could certainly use right now.

Source: CNet [http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57602591-75/microsofts-cortana-shapes-up-to-take-on-siri-google-now/]


Permalink
 

RandV80

New member
Oct 1, 2009
1,507
0
0
Looking at the article title I thought it meant they were going to bring her to stage for some Xbox presentation Hatsune Miku style.
 

TiberiusEsuriens

New member
Jun 24, 2010
834
0
0
I'm curious how they'll play this out. I can see the name being changed, as "Cortana, [do x,y,z]..." doesn't flow off the tongue quite as well as "Siri..." Also, with Windows Phones natively supporting digital [Xbox] avatars I think they should totally digitally recreate Cortana on the phone. Talking to an actual 'AI' entity instead of just the phone could be one of those small edges that makes it more competitive. Of course if they do that I bet the issue of Cortana's constantly increased 'sexual appeal' will become a heated debate again.

Nicolaus99 said:
Pff, want a GLaDOS Siri! She'd line all her answers with insults and threats.
I'd love to see that, too! Customization like that could be costly, but based on how involved Ellen McLain enjoys getting with the character I can totally see her being behind that idea. Honestly though, anything is better than "Bing Assistant Device." Seriously, that's the fastest way I could possibly see to kill off any enthusiasm for a neat product (this being Microsoft, then it's sure to happen -__- ).
 

an annoyed writer

Exalted Lady of The Meep :3
Jun 21, 2012
1,409
0
0
Bing Assistant Device... B.A.D.. you know what? Seems legit for something Microsoft would come up with.
 

ZZoMBiE13

Ate My Neighbors
Oct 10, 2007
1,908
0
0
Nicolaus99 said:
Pff, want a GLaDOS Siri! She'd line all her answers with insults and threats.
I'm honestly shocked that this isn't an option by now. I know someone did a fan video of it (right?), but it just makes perfect sense to me. It would almost make me consider maybe someday thinking about purchasing an Apple product (but not really).

As for "Cortana"... does this new app come with holographic hips and Jen Taylor's voice? Cause if so it might make me consider maybe someday thinking about possibly... you know what, I'm just lying through my teeth at this point. I like Halo a lot. But not enough to go with a Windows Phone over my Android. Besides, pretty sure my Android contract gave Google a percentage of my immortal soul, so I'm already invested in their ecosystem in this life and the afterlife.
 

Matthi205

New member
Mar 8, 2012
248
0
0
Andy Chalk said:
, "Our UI will be deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world. Our shell will natively support all of our essential services, and will be great at responding seamlessly to what people ask for, and even anticipating what they need before they ask for it."
*can't stop laughing*
*tries to calm down*
*reads text passage again*
*laughs some more*

This is Microsoft. The only thing bigger than their pile of money is their pile of code that doesn't work.
 

cricket chirps

New member
Apr 15, 2009
467
0
0
RandV80 said:
Looking at the article title I thought it meant they were going to bring her to stage for some Xbox presentation Hatsune Miku style.
That would be pretty crazy, I mean we have all seen it done. They should look into that just for the amount of attention it would get them.

As for this "Cortana" thing, yea if they don't make that now and have everyone have to say "Cortana" just like Siri, I will be very disappointed.
 

RJ 17

The Sound of Silence
Nov 27, 2011
8,687
0
0
RandV80 said:
Looking at the article title I thought it meant they were going to bring her to stage for some Xbox presentation Hatsune Miku style.
That's what I thought as well. Some type of holographic presentation to announce Halo 5 on the XBone or something. :p

OT: If they do run with the idea and keep the app's name as Cortana, I wonder if they'll get the voice actress that played her to record all the possible responses the app can give.
 

Slash2x

New member
Dec 7, 2009
503
0
0
Matthi205 said:
Andy Chalk said:
, "Our UI will be deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world. Our shell will natively support all of our essential services, and will be great at responding seamlessly to what people ask for, and even anticipating what they need before they ask for it."
*can't stop laughing*
*tries to calm down*
*reads text passage again*
*laughs some more*

This is Microsoft. The only thing bigger than their pile of money is their pile of code that doesn't work.

You. are. completely. wrong.


The biggest pile is the one of stolen ideas and code. Expect to get a Siri knockoff that routs all your request through knockoff Google(read Bing)

 

The Rogue Wolf

Stealthy Carnivore
Legacy
Nov 25, 2007
16,302
8,778
118
Stalking the Digital Tundra
Gender
✅
I'd love to believe that Microsoft might actually keep the name "Cortana" for the app (and even subtly tie it in with Halo), but the suits in charge of the whole thing will probably make it as bland and uninteresting as possible. Because that's kind of how they run things there, really.
 

Matthi205

New member
Mar 8, 2012
248
0
0
slash2x said:
Matthi205 said:
Andy Chalk said:
, "Our UI will be deeply personalized, based on the advanced, almost magical, intelligence in our cloud that learns more and more over time about people and the world. Our shell will natively support all of our essential services, and will be great at responding seamlessly to what people ask for, and even anticipating what they need before they ask for it."
*can't stop laughing*
*tries to calm down*
*reads text passage again*
*laughs some more*

This is Microsoft. The only thing bigger than their pile of money is their pile of code that doesn't work.

You. are. completely. wrong.


The biggest pile is the one of stolen ideas and code. Expect to get a Siri knockoff that routs all your request through knockoff Google(read Bing)

I completely forgot about that pile. Reminds me of Q-DOS by Seattle Computer. Quick'n'Dirty OS. They rebranded that and sold that for a shit ton of money to IBM. It didn't work until v3. How the hell did these idiots get away with this?
 

J Tyran

New member
Dec 15, 2011
2,407
0
0
If they had a Cortana app with Jen Taylor (the voice actress from the game) doing the voice and making quotes from the game relevant to what you are doing I might even get one of the better Windows phones, oh and it would have to have the Halo AI holographic theme. No need for boobs though.
 

s_h_a_d_o

Mr Propellerhead
Jun 15, 2010
134
0
0
Nicolaus99 said:
Pff, want a GLaDOS Siri! She'd line all her answers with insults and threats.
Yes.
Also...
HAL2000
Marvin (the Paranoid Android from HHGTTG)
Class M-3 Model B9, General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robot (from Lost in Space)!!!

I'm surprised Microsoft hadn't already marketed an actual AR product of Cortana.