Microsoft’s version of Siri is coming to Windows Phone in April, then PCs, Xbox, iPhone

By Andy Boxall January 17, 2014

microsoft siri rival cortana will be everywhere — Image used with permission by copyright holder

More details on Microsoft’s version of Siri have been leaked. Codename Cortana, after the Halo video game character, we were expecting the voice assistant to be a part of Windows Phone 8.1 or later, but according to MSFTNerd, it’ll end up having a far wider release.

According to the rumor, Cortana will also show up on the Xbox and inside Windows computers over the coming years, plus it could be added to the Bing app for the iPhone too. We say, “could,” as its functionality sounds very similar to Siri, something which Apple rarely looks on favorably.

Cortana will recognize the same natural speech patterns we use to interact with Siri and Google Now. However, instead of an OK command, or potentially, the press of a button, Cortana will listen up when you say, “Bing tell me.” Avoiding the obvious jokes (Bing tell me, why would I use you when I have Google?), the examples provided show Cortana will let you know the day’s weather forecast, your calendar entries, and also fire up Bing Maps.

Apparently, the Cortana assistant will be released in beta form for Lumia Windows Phones in April, when it’ll only be available in America, before coming to the Bing iPhone app during the latter half of the year. It’s not clear whether Cortana will be compatible with older Windows Phone devices, or if it’ll be a special feature for the first Lumia devices launched by Microsoft. The rumor also indicates Microsoft may limit access to Cortana until 2015 or even 2016, and that U.S. Xbox and Windows 9 computer users may get the software before those outside America.

Microsoft has confirmed it’s working on a virtual assistant, but Bing director Stefan Weitz said in an interview last year, “We are not shipping until we have something more revolutionary.” He continued to say it could release a direct competitor already, but, “It wouldn’t be state of the art.” If these new timeframes turn out to be correct, Microsoft is still not rushing into anything.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

The Pixel 7’s best camera trick is coming to the iPhone and all Android phones

Erasing items in Magic Eraser.

The Google Pixel series of phones, specifically the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7, have an exclusive feature called Magic Eraser. With Magic Eraser, you can get rid of unwanted objects in a photo, such as people in the background or things like power lines. As of today, Magic Eraser is becoming available to all Android phones and iPhone users through Google One.

Magic Eraser debuted on the Pixel 6 lineup, which includes the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and the more affordable Pixel 6a, which is still available to purchase (the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro have been discontinued). If you have a Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro, you also have the Magic Eraser feature. One of the reasons I had always wanted a Pixel device is because of Magic Eraser, and it is something that I desperately wished Apple would implement.

Mobile

My 1TB iPhone 14 Pro isn’t overkill — it’s the right version to buy

iPhone 14 Pro showing Settings iPhone Storage used.

For a long time, Apple’s iPhone lineup started at 64GB storage and capped out at 512GB. This stopped with the iPhone 13 series, with the base model iPhone 13 starting with 128GB, and the iPhone 13 Pro models even going up to 1TB. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models continue this tradition. While Digital Trends’ own Mobile editor, Joe Maring, stated that most people could get by with just 128GB storage on their iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro, I’m here thinking absolutely not!

When Apple began offering 1TB of storage with the iPhone 13 Pro, that’s what I sprung for — and with so many good apps on the app store (here is our list of the best iPhone apps) I’m going to continue getting 1TB until Apple brings it up to 2TB. Here’s why.
I have (and take) a lot of photos and video

Mobile

Apple confirms USB-C is coming to iPhones, but it’s still bitter about it

The Lightning port on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Apple is going to embrace the USB-C port for iPhones, ditching the Lightning standard that it has held on tightly for years. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Greg Joswiak, confirmed that Apple is going to comply with the EU’s decision of mandatorily putting a USB-C port for a wide range of electronic gadgets, including iPhones.

“Obviously, we’ll have to comply,” Joswiak told Joanna Stern when quizzed about the transition away from Lightning to the eventual USB-C destiny for iPhones. “We have no choice as we do around the world to comply to local laws. But we think the approach would have been better environmentally, and better for our customers to not have a government be that prescriptive,” he added.