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Cortana

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Cortana is a virtual personal assistant developed by Microsoft which uses the Bing search engine to perform tasks such as setting reminders and answering questions. It was first released on April 2, 2014 for Windows Phone, and had later been integrated into Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, and ported to Android, iOS, and the Xbox One system software.

The mobile app for Android and iOS was removed from certain markets in January 2020,[1] and was shut down globally on March 31, 2021.[2] However, it is still available as a feature of Windows 10, 11, and Microsoft 365.[3]

Languages[]

Cortana is available in English, French, Mandarin Chinese, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Brazilian Portuguese. Its language depended on the software platform and region in which it was used.

History[]

Cortana was demonstrated for the first time at the Microsoft Build developer conference in San Francisco in April, 2014. It has been launched as a key ingredient of Microsoft's planned "makeover" of the future operating systems for Windows Phone and Windows.

It is named after Cortana, a synthetic intelligence character in Microsoft's Halo video game franchise originating in Bungie folklore, with Jen Taylor, the character's voice actress, returning to voice the personal assistant's US-specific version.

Development[]

The development of Cortana started in 2009 in the Microsoft Speech products team with general manager Zig Serafin and Chief Scientist Larry Heck. Heck and Serafin established the vision, mission, and long-range plan for Microsoft's digital personal assistant and they built a team with the expertise to create the initial prototypes for Cortana. Some of the key researchers in these early efforts included Microsoft Research researchers Dilek Hakkani-Tür, Gokhan Tur, Andreas Stolcke, and Malcolm Slaney, research software developer Madhu Chinthakunta, and user experience designer Lisa Stifelman. To develop the Cortana digital assistant, the team interviewed human personal assistants. These interviews inspired a number of unique features in Cortana, including the assistant's "notebook" feature. Originally Cortana was only meant to be a codename, but a petition on Windows Phone's UserVoice site that proved to be popular made the codename official.

Expansion to other platforms[]

In January 2015, Microsoft announced the availability of Cortana for Windows 10 desktops and mobile devices as part of merging Windows Phone into the operating system at large.

On May 26, 2015, Microsoft announced that Cortana would also be available on other mobile platforms. An Android release was set for July 2015, but an Android APK file containing Cortana has leaked ahead of its release. It was officially released, along with an iOS version, in December 2015.

During E3 2015, Microsoft announced that Cortana would come to the Xbox One as part of a universally designed Windows 10 update for the console.

New focus[]

In 2017, Microsoft partnered with Amazon to integrate Echo and Cortana with each other, allowing users of each smart assistant to summon the other via a command. This feature preview was released in August 2018. Windows 10 users can just say "Hey Cortana, open Alexa" and Echo users can say "Alexa, open Cortana" to summon the other assistant.

In January 2019, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that he no longer sees Cortana as a direct competitor against Alexa and Siri.[4]

Cortana as an enterprise-only feature[]

On January 31, 2020, Microsoft removed Cortana mobile applications in certain markets (including UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico, China, Spain, Canada, and India). Microsoft removed Cortana from iOS and Android app stores entirely on March 31, 2021.

On March 31, 2021, Microsoft shut down Cortana apps for iOS and Android and removed them from corresponding app stores. To access previously recorded content, users have to use Cortana on Windows 10 or specialized app, like Microsoft To Do app instead.

Microsoft planned to reduce emphasis on Cortana in Windows 11. Cortana is not used during new device setup processes and is not be pinned to the taskbar by default.

Cortana in other services[]

Microsoft had integrated Cortana into numerous products such as Microsoft Edge,[5] the browser bundled with Windows 10. Microsoft's Cortana assistant is deeply integrated into its Edge browser. Cortana can find opening hours when on restaurant sites, show retail coupons for websites, or show weather information in the address bar. At the Worldwide Partners Conference 2015 Microsoft demonstrated Cortana integration with products such as GigJam.[6] Conversely, Microsoft announced in late April 2016 that it would block anything other than Bing and Edge from being used to complete Cortana searches, again raising questions of anti-competitive practices by the company.[7]

Microsoft's "Windows in the car" concept includes Cortana. The concept makes it possible for drivers to make restaurant reservations and see places before they go there.[8]

At Microsoft Build 2016, Microsoft announced plans to integrate Cortana into Skype (Microsoft's video-conferencing and instant messaging service) as a bot to allow users to order food, book trips, transcribe video messages and make calendar appointments through Cortana in addition to other bots.[9] In 2016, Cortana could underline certain words and phrases in Skype conversations that related to contacts and corporations.[10] A writer from Engadget has criticised the Cortana integration in Skype for only responding to very specific keywords, feeling as if she was "chatting with a search engine" due to the impersonal way the bots replied to certain words such as "Hello" causing the Bing Music bot to bring up Adele's song with that name.[11]

Microsoft also announced at Microsoft Build 2016 that Cortana would be able to cloud-synchronise notifications between Windows 10 Mobile's and Windows 10's Action Center,[12][13] as well as notifications from Android devices.[14][15]

In December 2016, Microsoft announced[16] the preview of Calendar.help, a service that enabled people to delegate the scheduling of meetings to Cortana. Users interact with Cortana by including her in email conversations. Cortana would then check people's availability in Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar, and work with others Cc'd on the email to schedule the meeting. The service relied on automation and human-based computation.[17][18]

In May 2017, Microsoft in collaboration with Harman Kardon announced Invoke, a voice-activated speaker featuring Cortana. The premium speaker has a cylindrical design and offers 360 degree sound, the ability to make and receive calls with Skype, and all of the other features currently available with Cortana.[19]

Functionality[]

Cortana can set reminders, recognize natural voice without the requirement for keyboard input, and answer questions using information from the Bing search engine (For example, current weather and traffic conditions, sports scores, biographies).[20][21][22] Searches using Windows 10 are only made with the Microsoft Bing search engine and all links will open with Microsoft Edge,[23] except when a screen reader such as Narrator is being used, where the links will open in Internet Explorer. Windows Phone 8.1's universal Bing SmartSearch features are incorporated into Cortana, which replaces the previous Bing Search app which was activated when a user presses the "Search" button on their device.[24] Cortana includes a music recognition service.[25] Cortana can simulate rolling dice and flipping a coin.[26] 'Cortana's "Concert Watch" monitors Bing searches to determine which bands or musicians the user is interested in.[27] It integrates with the Microsoft Band watch band for Windows Phone devices if connected via Bluetooth,[28][29] it can make reminders and phone notifications.[30]

Since the Lumia Denim mobile phone series, launched in October 2014, active listening was added to Cortana enabling it to be invoked with the phrase: "Hey Cortana". It can then be controlled as usual.[31] Some devices from the United Kingdom by O2 received the Lumia Denim update without the feature, but this was later clarified as a bug and Microsoft has since fixed it.[32]

Cortana integrates with services such as Foursquare to provide restaurant and local attraction recommendations and LIFX to control smart light bulbs.[33][34][35]

Notebook[]

Cortana stores personal information such as interests, location data, reminders, and contacts in the "Notebook". It can draw upon and add to this data to learn a user's specific patterns and behaviors. Users can view and specify what information is collected to allow some control over privacy, said to be "a level of control that goes beyond comparable assistants".[36] Users can delete information from the "Notebook".[37]

Reminders[]

Cortana has a built-in system of reminders which for example can be associated with a specific contact; it will then remind the user when in communication with that contact, possibly at a specific time or when the phone is in a specific location.[38] Originally, these reminders were specific to the device Cortana was installed on but starting on the 12th of February 2015 Cortana will synchronize reminders across devices.[39]

Design[]

Most versions of Cortana take the form of two nested circles,[40] which are animated to indicate activities such as searching or talking. The main color scheme includes a black or white background and shades of blue for the respective circles.[41]

Phone notification syncing[]

Cortana on Windows mobile and Android is capable of capturing device notifications and sending them to a Windows 10 device. This allows a computer user to view notifications from their phone in the Windows 10 Action Center. The feature was announced in early 2016 and released later in the year.[42]

Miscellaneous[]

Cortana has a "do-not-disturb" mode in which users can specify "quiet hours", as was available for Windows Phone 8.1 users.[43] Users can change the settings so that Cortana calls users by their names or nicknames.[37] It also has a library of "Easter Eggs", pre-determined remarks.[44][45]

When asked for a prediction, Cortana correctly predicted the winners of the first 14 matches of the football 2014 FIFA World Cup knockout stage, including the semi-finals, before it incorrectly picked Brazil over the Netherlands in the third place play-off match; this streak topped Paul the Octopus who correctly predicted all 7 of Germany's 2010 FIFA World Cup matches as well as the Final.[46][47][48][49] Cortana can forecast results in various other sports such as the NBA, the NFL,[50] the Super Bowl,[51] the ICC Cricket World Cup[52] and various European football leagues. Cortana can solve mathematical equations, convert units of measurement, and determine the exchange rates between currencies including Bitcoin.[53]

References[]

  1. ↑ Warren, Tom (November 16, 2019). "Microsoft is killing off its Cortana app for iOS and Android in January". The Verge. 
  2. ↑ Warren, Tom (April 1, 2021). "Microsoft shuts down Cortana on iOS and Android". The Verge. 
  3. ↑ Whatever happened to Cortana? Think corner office and a hefty raise by Ed Bott, ZDNet. 2020-06-11.
  4. ↑ RIP Cortana: Microsoft Silences Digital Assistant On iOS And Android by Carly Page, Forbes. 2021-04-01.
  5. ↑ Hachman, Mark (May 5, 2015). "Microsoft's Edge web browser roadmap includes more Cortana scenarios, extensions.". PC World. 
  6. ↑ Rama, Gladys (July 13, 2015). "Microsoft Debuts 'Project GigJam' at WPC 2015.". PC Magazine. 
  7. ↑ "Microsoft locks down Cortana: Blocks integration with other browsers, search engines". 
  8. ↑ Warren, Tom (September 16, 2015). "Microsoft experimenting with Cortana in your car". The Verge. "It's clear that Microsoft's car efforts have progressed over the past year, but the company still isn't ready to launch its own Windows 10 integration." 
  9. ↑ Hernandez, Pedro (March 31, 2016). "Microsoft Previews a Smarter Skype With Bots, Cortana Integration.". eWeek. 
  10. ↑ de Looper, Christian (March 30, 2016). "Skype now has the smarts to book your trip, order pizza, and more with Cortana.". Yahoo! Finance. 
  11. ↑ Lee, Nicole (March 30, 2016). "Chatting with Skype bots feels like talking to a search engine.". Engadget (AOL). 
  12. ↑ Surur, Suril (April 2, 2016). "Cortana is now 2 years old.". MSPowerUser. 
  13. ↑ Torres, JC (April 1, 2016). "Cloud-based Windows 10 Action Center will also be on Android.". SlashGear. 
  14. ↑ Chavez, Chris (April 1, 2016). "Windows 10 Anniversary Update not only mirrors Android notifications, but lets you interact with them too [VIDEO."]. Phandroid. 
  15. ↑ Amadeo, Ron (April 2, 2016). "The Windows 10 Anniversary Update can mirror Android notifications. Get Android notifications on your desktop. The catch: You have to install Cortana". Ars Technica. 
  16. ↑ "Enroll in the Calendar.help preview and let Cortana schedule your meetings - Office Blogs" (in en-US). Office Blogs. 2016-12-13. 
  17. ↑ "How We Built a Virtual Scheduling Assistant at Microsoft". Harvard Business Review. 2017-07-28. 
  18. ↑ Cranshaw, Justin; Elwany, Emad; Newman, Todd; Kocielnik, Rafal; Yu, Bowen; Soni, Sandeep; Teevan, Jaime; Monroy-Hernández, Andrés (2017-05-02). Calendar.help: Designing a Workflow-Based Scheduling Agent with Humans in the Loop. ACM. pp. 2382–2393. doi:10.1145/3025453.3025780. ISBN 9781450346559. 
  19. ↑ Sams, Brad (May 7, 2017). "Harman Kardon's Cortana Speaker Revealed". BWW Media Group. Retrieved May 8, 2017. 
  20. ↑ Microsoft. "My interests and Cortana". Windows Phone. Retrieved June 19, 2014. 
  21. ↑ Microsoft. "Remind me, Cortana". Retrieved June 19, 2014. 
  22. ↑ Warren, Tom (April 2, 2014). "The story of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri killer". The Verge. Retrieved June 19, 2014. 
  23. ↑ "Microsoft limits the Cortana search box in Windows 10 to Bing and Edge only". April 28, 2016. 
  24. ↑ Edmonds, Rich (February 11, 2014). "Developers leak Windows Phone 8.1 SDK, reveal new features". Windows Phone Central. Retrieved June 19, 2014. 
  25. ↑ Burgess, Brian (April 19, 2014). "Use Cortana on Windows Phone 8.1 to Identify Songs". GroovyPost. 
  26. ↑ Popa, Bogdan (October 6, 2014). "New Cortana Features on Windows Phone: Flip a Coin and Roll Some Dice". Softpedia. 
  27. ↑ Smith, Emily (October 17, 2014). "Cortana will be more like Google Now". LOAD THE GAME. 
  28. ↑ Kniskern, Kip (October 29, 2014). "Microsoft Band: cross platform, yet Better Together with Windows Phone (and Cortana)". Liveside.net. 
  29. ↑ none, Ron (October 30, 2014). "Say hello to Microsoft Band, a $199 fitness band that keeps you fit and lets you check emails and texts too". WinBeta. 
  30. ↑ Burlacu, Alexandra (October 30, 2014). "Microsoft Band fitness tracker with Cortana debuts alongside Microsoft Health service: Here's the deal (VIDEO)". Mobile & Apps. 
  31. ↑ Rubino, Daniel (January 12, 2015). "Hands on with 'Hey Cortana' and the Lumia 930 Denim update". Windows Central. 
  32. ↑ Nirave, Author (February 3, 2015). "O2 Lumia 930 Denim update lands without "Hey Cortana" [Updated"]. Fonearena. 
  33. ↑ Newman, Jared (July 29, 2014). "Windows Phone's Cortana taps Foursquare to suggest nearby places of interest". PCWorld. 
  34. ↑ Crist, Ry (October 15, 2015). "The new Lifx Windows 10 app lets Cortana toggle your lights". CNET. 
  35. ↑ "Cortana now taps into Foursquare to give you recommendations for lunch". Retrieved October 8, 2016. 
  36. ↑ Hachman, Mark (February 21, 2014). "Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant guards user privacy with 'Notebook'". PCWorld. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Warren, Tom (March 3, 2014). "This is Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Siri". The Verge. Retrieved June 16, 2014. 
  38. ↑ Guim, Mark (April 26, 2014). "How to set a person-based reminder with Cortana.". Windows Central (Mobile Nations). 
  39. ↑ Sams, Brad (February 13, 2015). "Windows 10: Cortana now syncs reminders.". Neowin. 
  40. ↑ Kleiman, Jacob (March 3, 2014). "Windows Phone Cortana Mobile Assistant Detailed in New Leak". TechnoBuffalo. Retrieved June 16, 2014. 
  41. ↑ kbridge. "Cortana design guidelines - Cortana UWP design and development" (in en-us). Retrieved 2017-05-04. 
  42. ↑ "Cortana Can Now Sync Notifications From Your Android Phone To Your Windows 10 PC - Thurrott.com" (in en-US). Thurrott.com. 2016-05-19. 
  43. ↑ Sabri, Sam (April 15, 2014). "How to set up Quiet Hours and Inner Circles on Windows Phone 8.1". Windows Phone Central. Retrieved June 16, 2014. 
  44. ↑ Warren, Tom (April 15, 2014). "Clippy replaces Cortana in Windows Phone 8.1 Easter egg". The Verge. Retrieved June 16, 2014. 
  45. ↑ Kessler, Derek (April 15, 2014). "Cortana Easter Egg resurrects Clippy as your personal digital assistant". Windows Phone Central. Retrieved June 16, 2014. 
  46. ↑ "Cortana's unbroken streak ends with Netherlands 3:0 win over Brazil". WMPoweruser.com. July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014. 
  47. ↑ Backaitis, Virginia (July 11, 2014). "Why Microsoft's Cortana is 14 for 14 Calling World Cup Matches". CMSWire.com. 
  48. ↑ Akash KJ (July 10, 2014). "Germany Will Beat Argentina to Win FIFA World Cup 2014 Final Predicts Cortana". International Business Times. 
  49. ↑ Wint, Bradley (July 9, 2014). "Cortana maintains winning streak, correctly predicting 14 games in a row". KontentPort.com. 
  50. ↑ Manfred, Tony (January 28, 2015). "The Microsoft Engine That Nailed The World Cup Is Predicting Every NFL Game – Here's Its Pick for the Super Bowl". Business Insider. 
  51. ↑ Curdie, Lewis (February 2, 2015). "Super Bowl winner correctly predicted by Windows Phone Cortana". Mobot. Retrieved February 3, 2015. 
  52. ↑ Allison, Michael (February 8, 2015). "Bing now predicts ICC Cricket World cup". WMPowerUser. 
  53. ↑ Sieber, Tina (January 28, 2015). "Here's how to make the most of Cortana, the Windows 10 digital assistant". Digital Trends. Retrieved January 29, 2015. 

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