Microsoft: Cortana not exclusive to Windows – it loves Android, iOS too Cortana, Microsoft's personal digital assistant that will be built into Windows 10, will also be available on Android and iOS devices, the software giant confirmed on Tuesday following rumors that have been swirling around since March. In a blog post, Microsoft operating systems veep Joe Belfiore said that most – but not all …
I wouldn't mind a concierge, but a personal assistant is right out. Android Google Now has a serious amount of nails in it here. Oh, Cortana and Windows 10? No fragging way. Monitoring the monitoring in Windows 10 has convinced me of that. Way TMI, but I've been on the business end of a proctoscope, it was about as pleasant as what Microsoft seems to have in mind. [Guess I'm just too damn old.]
I'm not sure about Android but the limitations to non-native apps on IOS will be way too big to make Cortana anything but an also ran so why on earth take the time to produce something so pointless.
A "digital assistant" will always need to have a level of OS bind in to make it (arguably) even half useful. Surely the time would be better spent throwing all engineering effort at making Cortana compelling on Windows mobile and desktop?
Sir John Harvey Jones once made the point that the problem with big companies wasn't getting people to do things, it was about getting people to stop doing the wrong things and line up behind a well thought out agreed strategy - That seems very relevant here.
No, it's not. From a consumer perspective it makes sense. As an events scheduler and search front end there'll be enough hooks for Cortana to work on iOS. Besides, MS would want to keep a few things Windows only to give them an angle when it's time to upgrade your phone.
Their strategy with this and Office365 is to go cross platform. Given their market share that's eminently sensible.
I don't know about the other versions, but on WP8.1, Cortana is a real pain.
I want the ringer and email notification to turn off at night.
That simple functionality is dependent upon Cortana.
Cortana is dependent upon GPS.
GPS uses too much battery.
I miss my old Nokia candy bar. All this stuff used to be so easy.
Cortana is dependent upon GPS.
No it's not.
But if you expect it to remind you to pick up the eggs on the way home, get the local gigs, or to tell you top leave for work 30 minutes early due to a traffic jam, then yes you do.
And if you don't like it, it's not exactly the hardest thing to stop using.
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Well looks pretty straightforward, and certainly not GPS related: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-gb/how-to/wp8/cortana/quiet-hours-and-cortana
Does this not work? What makes you think you need the GPS on to do this?
Oh, my bad. Further digging reveals:
Long and the short of it: Cortana does have to have the location services on. Some argue that as this is Windows phone that won't make any difference to battery consumption: "Disabling location services on the OS level doesn't really conserve power in a noticable way." Hmmm, surely it takes more power to check location than it does to not check location...
So sorry for doubting you!
Battery Saver does more than enough when it comes to saving battery at least for me.
(Lasts from Friday Morning to Sunday Night with moderate usage which is the longest I ever need.)
Wish I could have more of the background rubbish disabled without making the screen dimmer though.
I never, ever, use the "Hey Cortana" functionality. In fact I avoid talking at all to my telephone. Partly because I often have to repeat myself, mostly because it makes me look like a dork. Or Captain Kirk doing his "computer, computer" thing.
Apart from that, I must admit I find myself wishing Cortana could do more: "Can you go to the website for x, find out what their opening times are, get their phone number and put me through if they're still open? Failing that remind me tomorrow when they open."
"Please find me that mail from X from yesterday, I want to dictate my answer in French"
Apart from that, I must admit I find myself wishing Cortana could do more: "Can you go to the website for x, find out what their opening times are, get their phone number and put me through if they're still open? Failing that remind me tomorrow when they open."
I have an amazing device which can do that. It's called an "intern". In many industries, you can even get them for free - though that always struck me as a bit exploitative.
I remember when OS/2 Warp came out with bundled Dragon Naturally Speaking and OS integration, so you could perform shell functions by speaking. Cute, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone use that functionality. I've seen a lot of voice-recognition UIs over the years, come to think of it - real and fantasy - and none has ever struck me as appealing. But no accounting for taste.
What does this stuff have to do with Windows?
Cortana, Siri, Google's assistant -- they are all a front-end for an voice recognution/search/"intelligence" backend that runs in some datacenter. It has absolutely nothing to do with the operating system the front-end runs on, other than the programmer being aware of the available hooks (they all provide those hooks) to run other applications, play sounds, display things etc.
It's just like web browsers. Ok, after seeing that other companies built web browsers, Microsoft built their own? Haven't we already seen this movie? We even know how it goes...
PS: Staying on the topic of the title. But do the other platforms love Cortana? ;-)
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