
Say Hello to Cortana, Microsoft’s Siri Equivalent - btimil
http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/say-hello-to-cortana-microsofts-siri-equivalent-24441
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parfe
I hope Microsoft decides to target Google Now instead of Siri. Google Now
provides so much more depth than a voice interface; Siri offers so little in
comparison. Siri works well as a voice activated personal assistant (that I
rarely see people use).

Based on search history, emails, and location Google Now provides information
before you need to search for it. It happens to have a voice activated
interface available. I'd really like to see Microsoft do more than creating a
voice activated app for setting alarms and searching yelp with Cortana. The
screenshot looks promising and the author probably made the Siri connection
himself so I feel hopeful.

~~~
delinquentme
I hope they do exactly the opposite. Weve got these behemoths literally
pecking at one another over * THE SAME PRODUCT * ... why? They've got massive
research expenses... and this is how they invest their money. _facepalm_

~~~
neotek
Because competition drives innovation. We wouldn't have Chrome today if nobody
had bothered competing against IE. We wouldn't have Google if nobody thought
they could do better than Altavista.

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bitwize
What's next, GLaDOS on our Steamboxes?

"GLaDOS?"

"I hate you."

"Bring up _Team Fortress 2_ "

"Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess? Or how about 'Pass the Hot Deadly
Neurotoxin'?"

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anonymfus
_> The Verge reports that _

So, The Verge's article was submitted to HN too and got 4 points:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7335717](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7335717)

~~~
ethana
Submitted at noon. _Everyone_ left for lunch.

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Uhhrrr
Possible branding problem: Cortana the Halo character goes insane after seven
years.

~~~
abshack
Forced obsolescence -- Microsoft learned from Windows XP.

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madsushi
I can see it now.

"OK, Cortana, show me how to get to Mars."

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCCk1atehQc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCCk1atehQc)

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MadManE
A bit of a side-note, but calling something an "equivalent" in this kind of
circumstance is a bit of a misnomer, I think. "Competitor", sure. But
"equivalent" implies some sort of interchangeability to me.

~~~
timdiggerm
What do you mean by "interchangeability"? Do they not want Cortana do all the
things Siri does?

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tomkarlo
They want it to, but unless it does today, it's not an "equivalent" yet. It's
splitting hairs but the choice of that word implies they're equal in a way
that "Microsoft's answer to Siri" or "alternative to Siri" does not. It's an
implicit assessment of its relative capability.

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TrainedMonkey
Nice Halo reference! Microsoft already has Kinect, so they are not starting
from scratch in terms of voice recognition/processing.

~~~
mikestew
> so they are not starting from scratch in terms of voice
> recognition/processing.

If my Kinect experience is any indicator, Microsoft may not be starting from
scratch, but it has a long way to go. Kinect voice recognition works well
enough to trick me into thinking that it's actually going to work this time,
and fails often enough that I feel like an idiot when I finally give up and
pick up a controller. I think I'm just going to unplug the damned thing, as it
serves no other real purpose for me.

~~~
Joeri
So, about the same as siri then.

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Strilanc
Unintentional humor when they say

> will "take the form of a _circular animated_ icon instead of a female
> character." Aw, shucks!

> Here's a look at the program, courtesy of the aforementioned outlet.

Because I have noscript, what's "there" is nothing but firefox's _circular
animated_ progress ring.

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classicsnoot
I think the idea of trapping human traits inside a mobile device will
eventually be a dead end. The interface with the device should be based on the
inherent nature of the device, utilizing its size, shape, and hardware for
sensory and spatial character and user dictated software for personality and
habits.

In this concept, you decide whether or not the device even talks. With
vibration, LED pulse, audio, and video at your disposal, who knows what kind
of interface works best? We seem to desperately want a 7 of 11 or whatever
from Star Trek. Personally, i like the way that computers and devices interact
with me, especially when it is on their terms. I know it is developed and
implemented by humans, but devices acquire character over time.

~~~
krapp
Part of the reason for mimicking human traits (particularly, in attempting to
read and emulate emotional cues) is to generate empathy for a device[1].
Consumers who form emotional attachments to and _converse_ with their devices,
so that at a subconscious level, they're seen as other _people_ and not mere
things, are more likely to remain loyal to that brand, and to trust the
content (or advertisements) that comes through it.

It will be driven less by "Star Trek" idealism and more by subtle attempts at
applied social engineering. Effects like the mirrors they've developed in
Tokyo which tweak your reflection to make you look happier[2] because happier
people shop more.

[1][http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/01/20/should_ai...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/01/20/should_ai_makers_be_legally_responsible_for_emotionally_manipulating_customers.html)
[2][http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/08/07/incendiary_r...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/08/07/incendiary_reflection_mirrors_make_you_look_happier_than_you_are_so_you.html)

~~~
classicsnoot
I understand the empathy factor, but i believe it is misguided. The devices
are not human; they never will be. Human, as a construct, is something that
has developed over a long time based on physical constraints and chance.
Applying the same logic, by choice, to devices is the point i am trying to
discuss towards.

I think a device that purrs when you plug it in, makes a sharp whine when you
drop it, and uses its vibrations to communicate subtle emotional reflections
[buzzing for a little longer when you pick it up after down time, getting
excited in the morning and over clocking just a touch,etc] will generate
empathy and attachment to devices. The smart phone is uniquely capable of
transmitting a number of emotional reflections through a number of ways. The
voice element is so basic; an automated slave that you constrain to human
speech patterns. I think looking at the device as a creature then building
interactions from there.

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basicallydan
Last time one of the big tech companies made a sci-fi reference for a new
product it was a failure :( remember Google Wave?

One of these days, someone will build our dream Sci-Fi future. At any rate,
Cortana is a good name.

~~~
dnautics
perhaps i'm geek-culture-ally handicapped here, but what did Wave reference?

~~~
latortuga
I believe it was a reference to the fictional communication system in Joss
Whedon's short-lived TV show, Firefly.

~~~
eieio
Oh wow, I made a comment the other day about how Wave always made me think of
Firefly. I had no idea that it was true.

In retrospect it makes complete sense.

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rayiner
What's the offline story? Because its lame that I've got a 2.2 GHz quad core
in my phone but Google Now can't recognize simple voice commands without going
over the internet.

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vetinari
Why don't you download the offline dictionary then? (Settings, Language and
Input, Voice Search, Offline speech recognition)

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rayiner
I do have it. Still gives me errors like "can't connect to Google Now" when I
do stuff like send a text message using voice.

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misnome
I know that circle thing is supposed to look like an eye, but I instantly see
it as... something else. Slightly unfortunate.

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TheCoreh
I think that's just an unfortunate screenshot. It 's an animated spinning
circle, so it wont look like that in motion, just for a single frame.

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rtfeldman
I wonder if Microsoft will ever again release a product that's meaningfully
_ahead_ of the curve, such that we see headlines about Apple and Google
putting out a "me too" product to catch up with MS.

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jrockway
Speech recognition is not easy. It's pretty cool to see three large companies
spending research money to make our computers understand human language.

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btbuildem
MS has a significant background in voice recognition, I expect they would
deliver a technically proficient product in that aspect.

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caycep
The next version will be called Durandal...

~~~
astrange
One Durandal in a planetary network is bad enough. Having a clone on each
device? We'd all be dead in days.

(See you starside.)

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robodale
I do like the name.

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theChips69
Nerds

~~~
radley
Chicken

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Nux
Cortana, Siri ... Who comes up with these names? Thank fsck for Watson.

~~~
radley
Cortana came from the mega-popular XBox game Halo. She was the AI who guided
the player around.

The name Siri is Norwegian, meaning "beautiful woman who leads you to
victory", and comes from the intended name for the original developer's first
child. - (Wikipedia)

~~~
tesseract
It's hard to imagine that the name Siri wasn't also an intentional reference
to the name of the company that originally developed and named it, SRI.

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higherpurpose
Cortana sounds like a mouthful. Imagine saying "Cortana" everytime you want to
tell it something. And I imagine it would be even more embarassing to do it in
public than it is for saying "Siri".

~~~
nivla
Cortana is in reference to the AI of popular game Halo so its less awkward to
those who know the reference. Had Cortana come before Siri, saying Siri would
now have sounded silly. Most uncommon names sounds silly in the beginning but
it blends in as time passes.

Also from what I have read, you don't need to start a sentence with Cortana to
get its attention.

~~~
LukeShu

        > Had Cortana come before Siri, saying Siri would now
        > have sounded silly.
    

Well, "Siri" was already a name. Before Halo, "Cortana" wasn't.

~~~
Apocryphon
Cortana was a legendary sword.

~~~
kissickas
Just read up on that... the sword was called "Curtana."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtana)

