Cortana

Cortana is the codename for the forthcoming intelligent personal assistant and cognition navigator for Windows Phone 8.one. The engineering is expected to be added to Windows 8.x and the Xbox Ane in the future. Information technology builds off of Microsoft's current voice engineering science called TellMe, purchased by Microsoft in 2009.

The name 'Cortana' comes from the fictional, artificially intelligent (AI) character in the Halo video game series. It was first spotted in June 2022 in the Windows Phone Central forums, actualization every bit 'zCortana' from a developer device that was accidentally sold to a non-Microsoft employee.

Naming and Voicing Controversy

Currently, the name Cortana is reserved for the AI in Microsoft's Halo gaming serial. While at that place is desire to call Microsoft'due south next-gen personal assistant Cortana as an official name, it'southward non clear that the company will exercise and then, due to numerous marketing and trademark concerns.

As of Feb 2022, it is not known if Cortana volition exist the official name or if it will be called something else, when appear in April.

Likewise, an unconfirmed report claimed that Jen Taylor, who currently voices Cortana in Halo, will also voice the knowledge navigator for Windows Phone 8.one. However, this has all the same to be verified as authentic.

Look and Feel

While the verbal visual representation of Cortana is not yet known due to ongoing changes, some firsthand accounts take described its look and functionality:

"The personality of Cortana is currently represented past a circle graphic that expresses what it's doing (searching, identifying music à la the current Bing music listener built into Windows Telephone, etc.) by various animations similar spinning, flipping, etc. …more than animations [take] come in over fourth dimension, and the color is based on your theme colour."

"This Cortana magic will be found throughout the OS and work contextually. For example, permit's say I transport you an SMS that says like "Desire to get dinner tomorrow in Seattle?" You'll run across parts of that text message underlined. Click that and you lot'll be able to instantly enter the info into your calendar with some of those fields already populated. And then it would fill "Seattle" as the location, if I had said a fourth dimension it will already have the time there."

Currently, Cortana is in wider, internal testing at Microsoft. It is expected to be announced at Build 2022 in April, aslope Windows Phone eight.1.