Microsoft finally seem to have an answer to Apple’s Siri and Google Now. Their own voice-assistant service, code-named Cortana, is to be included in the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update.
According to The Verge, Cortana will be replacing the Bing Search function present on current Windows Phone devices. Cortana will allow users to configure it to use any name they desire and even the pronunciation of the words, making this point works like Siri. It can track flights information and emails to gather the right data to product notifications that works similarly to Google Now Cards.
The standout point of Cortana is the ability to save new information that it gathered from the past or future into a Notebook system. From there on, Cortana will then be able to retrieve required data such as but not limited to location, personal and contact information when needed.
As expected, Cortana will be powered by Microsoft’s very own Bing Search. New users will need to take some time to let Cortana learns all it can and ‘know’ you better as time passes. However, as noted, Cortana is just a name used during the development stage of Windows Phone 8.1. No confirmation of final name is released as of now. More details of it will be out when it is shown to public at the upcoming Windows Phone Build conference.
Personally, I have not been using Siri or even Google Now much since its launch and I don’t think I will even use Cortana in its early phase. But who knows, I might find it quite useful one day just like how I feel about Google Now Cards back then when I was with my Galaxy S4.