Microsoft has been working on a Siri alternative of its own known as Cortana. A new video has now hit the web, showing off Cortana working on a handset. The video shows some of the features of the virtual assistant.
The video is two minutes long and shows how Cortana is being set up on a smartphone. From the looks of it, you will be required to get a Microsoft account in order to boot Cortana, which is a bit of clever marketing by Microsoft.
Initially, you are asked a whole set of questions by Cortana. This is apparently meant to acquaint the digital assistant with your key preferences, which are then stored in Cortana’s ‘Notebook.’ Before Cortana boots, you can also set the nickname which Cortana should use to speak to you.
Once you have questioned these basic answers, Cortana is activated. You can then launch search functionality or feed voice-based queries to it and it will respond. Meanwhile, the information gathered from you through the aforementioned questions will be processed by Cortana to give you more accurate answers.
Another interesting feature that Cortana will pack is called ‘Quiet hours.’ Like the name suggests, Cortana silence all calls, texts and other alerts during the ‘quiet hours.’ Only the most critical calls from your ‘inner circle’ of friends and family reach you, otherwise it is like having a peaceful time-out.
The video shows some of the animations that will be a part of Cortana. It would be interesting to see a dynamic and moving virtual assistant after Apple’s rather static Siri. But is Cortana the first step towards a future envisioned in ‘Her?’
Source: Unleash The Phones
Courtesy: The Verge
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