A brief history of Cortana, Microsoft's trusty digital assistant
Cortana is Microsoft's first major foray into consumer-facing artificial intelligence (AI). But how did it all get started? And where did Microsoft get the name "Cortana?" Keep reading for answers.

Cortana was first demonstrated at Microsoft's Build 2014 developer conference, and it became directly integrated into both Windows phone devices and Windows 10 PCs. Cortana was, originally, simply a codename for the service. But an outpouring of fan interest led to Microsoft opting to stick with the name.
Here's a quick look at Cortana's history, development, and the digital assistant's future.
What's new on Cortana for the Windows 10 Creators Update
Cortana and Windows Phone "Blue"
Cortana launched in the US originally for Windows Phone 8.1 in 2014, and it eventually expanded out to Windows 10 Mobile, Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One, and even iOS and Android. While Cortana's features vary by OS, it's most powerful on Windows 10 PCs in the U.S., where it can track flights, set reminders, provide breaking news stories, and much more.
Cortana was originally spotted in 2013, when a developer-enabled Lumia phone was accidentally sold to a consumer. All we knew then was that something called "zCortana" was on the way. A few months later, it became clear that that Cortana was no mere voice assistant, but it could also perform complex actions such as setting reminders and issuing alerts.
The leaks were enough to capture the imagination of the optimistic Windows Phone community, which, at the time, had enjoyed some market share victories in certain European territories, spearheaded by an aggressive Nokia advertising campaign. Windows Phone "Blue" was set to deliver Cortana to that small but passionate community in an update that was eventually known as Windows Phone 8.1.
In 2017, Cortana is primarily found on Windows 10 PCs, where it can provide reactive support using natural language cues. The project is still on-going, led by Marcus Ash, Microsoft's group program manager for Cortana.
Where did Microsoft get the name Cortana?
Cortana was "codenamed" after the A.I. of the same name from the popular Halo game franchise.
In Halo, Cortana supports the Halo character Master Chief directly, integrated into his Spartan combat armor. In Halo, Cortana provides tactical advice, instant-access information, and calculations that far exceed the capabilities of even a super-human Spartan soldier.
The code name resonated with Microsoft fans so strongly that a feedback petition was begun to persuade Microsoft to keep the Cortana identity.
Microsoft got on board, and it even enlisted Cortana's official voice actress, Jen Taylor, to provide on-going voice work for the assistant's U.S.-version.
Cortana's in-game personality also affected the delivery of its Microsoft assistant version. Cortana is sassy, has an array of fun jokes, and plenty of Halo-inspired Easter eggs to uncover in discussions. The assistant has been localized into various languages, complete with unique conversational nuances per region. The feature set varies by territory, as of writing, but Microsoft is working to bring Cortana capabilities to more locations.
Cortana development
Cortana's development actually began in 2009, under Zig Serafin and Larry Heck, who were engineers working with Microsoft Research and the Microsoft Speech team. Heck and Serafin set about creating a digital assistant that would not only provide assistance with day to day tasks but also learn your habits and respond in an anticipatory way.
If you are the kind of person who has a daily routine, and the kind of person who leverages Cortana for setting meeting schedules or checking traffic, it will begin to remember your daily cycle and provide that information automatically, at least in theory.
For Heck, the first release offered a taste of what he had in mind. Over time, Heck wanted Cortana to interact in an increasingly anticipatory, natural manner. While not a true AI, Cortana does exhibit increasingly recognizable human-like traits, and that's no accident. Here's what Heck had to say back in 2014.
The base technologies for a virtual personal assistant include speech recognition, semantic/natural language processing, dialogue modeling between human and machines, and spoken-language generation. Each area has in it a number of research problems that Microsoft Research has addressed over the years. In fact, we've pioneered efforts in each of those areas.
I've experienced Cortana automatically pulling flight information from my emails, and it has on more than one occasion, updated me on a gate change before the airline. A wealth of impressive features make Cortana an excellent service, and it's improving all the time.
A vision for Cortana
Cortana leverages Bing's web search engine to provide information from the internet, while utilizing in-house machine learning algorithms developed by Microsoft Research.
More and more companies are investing in A.I. technology, including Google and Facebook, as all the major tech companies vie for a hand in the next major tech paradigm shift.
A hologrammatic Cortana concept for HoloLens.
Heck set out Cortana's long-term vision to involve more complex interactions, including gestures and speech and text recognition, even payments and banking. Heck believes that Cortana, and its competitors such as Apple's Siri and Google Assistant, are still far from maturity.
I believe the personal-assistant technology that's out there right now is comparable to the early days of search, in the sense that we still need to grow the breadth of domains that digital personal assistants can cover. In the mid-90s, before search, there was the Yahoo! directory. It organized information, it was popular, but as the web grew, the directory model became unwieldy. That's where search came in, and now you can search for anything that's on the web.
Microsoft has intentionally built Cortana to scale out to all the different domains. Having a long-term vision means we have a long-term architecture. The goal is to support all types of human interaction—whether it's speech, text, or gestures—across domains of information and function and make it as easy as a natural conversation.
Cortana became slated for its first outing on a dedicated speaker and microphone combo in 2017 with the Harman Kardon "Evoke" speaker. And it made the leap to Android, iOS, and Xbox One throughout 2015 and 2016. With Cortana on hundreds of millions of Windows 10 devices (as of writing), it has contributed to huge growth in the Bing search engine, which has historically struggled to compete against Google's dominance.
In 2016, Microsoft announced that developers would be able to connect with Cortana through a new bots platform, in addition to plugging into it directly for natural interactions. You can now make Skype calls, search and play third-party music apps, and even hail Uber cabs, using Cortana's natural language commands.
What's next for Cortana?
Microsoft should be looking to expand Cortana's feature set towards parity across different regions. The U.S. Cortana has, thus far, been the "flagship" version, with other anglo-centric territories coming next. Various regions don't have access to Cortana at all, making it more of a curiosity than a global phenomenon.
Every major Windows 10 update bridges the gap further, however, while expanding its toolset in the process.
The new Windows 10 Creators Update gave Cortana the ability to move certain apps from one device to the next, using what Microsoft has dubbed "pick up where you left off." (Microsoft has rarely been great at naming features.) To help train new PC users into getting used to using Cortana, it also now comes baked into the initial Windows 10 setup experience, in addition to adding enhancements to reminders, and various other features.
Will we ever see a full-blown Cortana AI hologram, as seen in the Halo games? Only time will tell, but it's clear that Microsoft has big aspirations for the product. We'll just have to wait and see just how far "she" gets.
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Jez Corden a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by caffeine. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his Xbox Two podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!
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I know Microsoft has the resources and know-how to position as a stronger competitor in the AI space. Maybe have some Cortana-Skype Bot merger thing going on, Similar to Facebook's M assistant + chat bot.
And something in the car would be nice too. With or without another device, something just baked in the car.
And speakers. We need speakers to go head on with Google Home and Amazon Alexa. -
Speakers are coming at least, but yeah, progress seems slow.
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Us only, hurraaa
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Why the downvotes. He's right! All the non-english parlants can get mad and dissapointed someplace else. I was looking for this features on my xbox and pc since ages
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You know people speak english outside the US, right?
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Hey Jez, how's the Hey Cortana thing working for you? I've had mixed results with it waking up to listen reliably.
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Can't wait for the bring Cortana to my country comments...I'll get the popcorn.
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Cortana ??? ohhhhh, i remember now.... that thing that dont work in most countries (not even in english) what a joke. EDIT: Downvoted due to what ? speaking the truth that Cortana is useless for most people since they cant use it, i've only been waiting for 3 years so far...
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Your votes are positive as of my writing this. But if they were negative, it was probably due to the attitude and not the content of your comment. Cortana is still limited in countries, that's true. I don't doubt that Microsoft is working on improving it, and they are probably taking longer than most fans would appreciate. Voice interactions are not easy to handle in other languages.
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Well, i apologize if i ended up sounding like an extremely negative *******, that wasn't my intention :) I guess im just really fed up keep waiting for something i tought i would have had long ago, im not even demanding native language support, just make it work worldwide to begin with. Also, trying to get native lang support would surely be easier if they tryed to do so, instead of keep adding features... in the end its just so frustrating.
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There was an article like more than a year on WC on why Cortana is slowly spreading out. What from what I interpret from it was MSFT doesn't want to "offend" anyone with different cultures.
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And I call that BS. Somehow Google has no problem delivering their assistant to so many more markets, yet MS "struggles". Looking at the availability of their other services (rewards, streaming etc.) they just choose to ignore the markets outside the US
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I understand the frustration. It seems strange that the company can create a whole new operating system faster than it takes them to port Cortana to countries with a similar language.
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I agree. It's useless in most countries. Big fail .... a joke. You are right.
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I wasn't going to up nor downvote you because your comment is just one of the usual dime a dozen trolls that we see around here now. But when you whine about people expressing their thoughts and opinions, I wish I had more than one down vote to give.
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And you really think people care what you vote? I don't think your that much important to anyone. People are here to say what ever they like, no to please you.
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And I said what I wanted to say, and I will say what I want to any one's comments. For example, usually your comments sound like a entitled child who has a temper tantrum every time you do not get your way even if your way is at the expense of others. And you can be damn sure I will be commenting on every one of your comments saying what ever I like, not to please you, but to please me.
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Point is ..... nobody cares. But if it's pleasing you, be my guest.
So comment on this: 'A brief history of Cortana, Microsoft's trusty US-ONLY digital assistant' and please your hart out. -
I downvoted you both. This type of argument should be taken privately as it detracts from the point of this article, and the point of comments based on the article. Yes, Cortana has most features in USA. I am in Australia and I find Cortana useful here with the features we have to the point that I stopped using Google's one as Cortana is better here. Argue semantics all you like about where Cortana works best. This article was about the HISTORY of Cortana, not about where it works best and worst.
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Agreed, I use Cortana in the UK and find it essential in my daily life when it comes to reminders if nothing else! Gerard has clearly made his mind up, and no amount or rational argument is going to change that. I would just ignore and move on...
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One of the most annoying things about Cortana missing in my country is the way MS tied up Quiet hours with "her". Since there is no Cortana, there's also no Quiet hours. An essential feature in a phone not working. I'd assume it would not need too much engineering to separate those two...
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I just wish they'd allow changing her name. I love the fact they chose and stuck with Cortana for obvious reasons, but when I'm in my office at home with ALL of my items running Cortana... I just wish I could say; "Hey Xbox, "Hey Desktop," and "Hey Mobile" instead of having ALL three items try to answer me with "Hey Cortana." Granted, it's a 1st world problem, but never-the-less a royal PITA!
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Granted that there are much worse issues with it. But yeah, would be nice I guess.
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Yea I had the same problem with Xbox one and the phone both responding at the same time. It was a pain.
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There is an app which allows you to change her name (and other activation words) to whatever you wish. If I remember right it is called My Cortana. I tried to use it some months ago ('Hey' is a bit impolite in the UK and could lead to complaints if used in an office!). Unfortunately I could not get it to run, the error was supposed to be a problem with my (working well) microphone. I may try again but at the moment Cortana and Search are not working at all, and so far I have not found a fix. I will keep trying, I enjoyed her company and help.
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So basically a Siri rip off. Apple put it in consumers hands first, MS saw and did too.
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According to the article, Cortana was started two years before Siri was announced. But, Apple had a feature out before Microsoft. Gotta be a first for them.
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Apple bought Siri and then shut down the Siri iOS app and claimed that users that wanted Siri had to buy a new iPhone to get Siri...even if users already had the Siri app before Apple bought it and took it away. Even so, Siri (pre Apple and Apple Siri) wasn't the first voice controlled digital assistant available to consumers.
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Siri is powered by Bing, just like Cortana. Cortana has more features, more personality, and is available on more devices. The biggest issue with Cortana (besides region availability), is that Microsoft is spending almost no money on promoting it. Meanwhile, Apple pumps out Siri ads all the time. Microsoft needs to heavily advertise Cortana, especially if they truly believe that "bots" are going to replace apps.
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Cortana is a joke. I could have been awesome....but they kept it US only....so that you have to set all prefrences to US for it to work.
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Nice...just noticed that mobile nations has added a new "feature".....no reply etc if your using ad blocking.,....oh well...moving away from these sites. SLow as **** without ad blocking and getting bombarded with **** ads does not appeal to me!
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Use the app, then you have no ads.
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No thanks, The app has been total garbage since back in the 8.1 days. I just wish the mobile nations, would get rid of the bombardment of ads on their sites. It's brutal. Then, I have to turn off my ad blocking just to repsond? terrible. I use all their sites as I have devices from everything...android, blackberry, IOS and windows.
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Considering how important is Cortana to Microsoft, I wonder how the developers got authorized to turn her in a villain in the last Halo games. Somehow, it seems that Xbox is so unimportant to Microsoft that the upper management never noticed it.
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the real question is, does anyone who isn't a total microsoft fanboy actually use cortana? guess not...
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I used it with my son to track Santa. or ask the weather...but thats about it. the same amount I use Siri. I dont want to talk to my computer. Hence the reason I will never use BOTS. total crap. barking at your phone in public, you look like a tool.
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Nick i do. I have a android phone and tablet with cortanna on it (android) it is on my Xbox one but i don't really use it it's to slow for things like volume up down ect the old way was better i also use it on my home and work pc. The reason i use it over Google and seri is because of the one sync across all devices. Reminders, text messages, what's app all pop us on all my devices depending on what I'm using. I use ok Google on my 360 watch just for things like weather ect when I'm out and about but with less sync on my devices i prefer cortanna
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Maybe its just me but for an AI character in Halo Cortana is a looker!
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Sexist. Couldn't they at least put some clothing on? How would you feel if it was male in a speedo?
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Getting confused why she now can't "Play my music" on my 950xl, Surface 3 or my XPS13....when she could two weeks ago... if I type 'play my music' into Cortana she can....but not via voice, she gets th command right but then fails and says i need to disconnect Groove...
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I want to love it and for the most part do...but two things are killing it for me. If I type in something to search, it will correct it to something else (understandable), but if I really did want to search what I typed, and re-enter it, it will recorrect it again. Example? If I type in credit union to get a search result for credit unions, it keeps changing the search to credit union one. While I realize a voice input will stop this, sometimes your in a quiet place you cant do that. Real pain to do a proper search and it will keep correcting it to something else. Secondly, I have never gotten it to work properly for telling you when to leave for work or an appointment correctly. Once or twice it has reminded me with ample drive time, but most of the time, it never reminds me. And often when it does, it's without the needed drive time. And it has never ever told me when to leave for work or adjusted for traffic. I work midnights, so I don't know if that is messing the situation up. Have waited for these fixes forever.
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Actually what happens that through muscle memory we search and press enter, a random change occurs on your query and appears first so when you press enter it will search that term instead of what you typed. I have no idea why but this started happening after one of the cumulative updates.
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Yes, but in the browser or texting, if you correct it back as an indication that you really did mean what you typed, it leaves it. But this is just one more thing that has never been fixed under Dona the super star dodger.
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Sexis pig.
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Ummmm...excuse me? I'm sexist, why? Because I think someone isn't doing their job, and they happen to be a woman? You're an idiot.
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I'm just taking the piss cos u always call nadella sexist you ****. Prove to me you don't like Dona because she's a woman. I'm taking the stance that you are sexist. Sexist pig.
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Really? Prove to me I don't like her because she is I woman? My complaint specifically states that I don't think she has done her job, many people don't think she has done her job well, and all the glitches point to this. So let's flip this..show me one spot in me comment where i mentioned her gender? You just come of as a clown. This new view by a bunch of you that you are bullet proof from your faults being pointed out if you are female or not white, is completely counter-productive to the whole equality movement.
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Again, MS has GOT to unify Cortana across any and all devices. She is a completely separate entity on each device you have her on. She's not omnipresent, she's multi-presenced. As a result, you can four different responses on four different devices in the same room, when all four hear your command. This is NOT helpful. Adding the Evoke speaker doesn't improve this situation at all. Microsoft will make a huge leap to owning this aspect when they figure out a lightweight (in application, not physicality) mechanism for Cortana to be aware of every single instance nearby that can hear and respond to you, and then immediately discern the context of your command and respond/execute ONLY on the device or devices that makes sense. If I say "Hey, Cortana, turn on the Xbox", all the devices may hear me, but the only one that needs to respond and act is the Xbox. In fact, an even cooler option might be to allow the inclusion of the target device in the command, like "Hey, Cortana, open Vudu on my tablet".
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I agree with this 100%
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I don't have a problem with her name. I have a problem with the fact that, for all the system resources she uses, she remains pointless. I was SO looking forward to the Creators Update, since I knew it would bring needed changes to Cortana's functionality. What I got, sadly, was more disappointment. Permit me to paint a picture: I asked Cortana to play a song that I owned, and resided in the music folder on my computer. Her response? I need to purchase a Groove Music Pass first. Are you freaking kidding me?! I ask Cortana to play a song on my hard drive and Cortana attempts to extort me? How about NO. I'm not paying for a Groove Music Pass; it isn't my fault that Microsoft dragged their feet with the whole music streaming thing and Amazon beat them to the punch at my house. I've been buying music from Amazon since Amazon began selling MP3. I actually lost money on music when I purchased from MSN Music way back in the day, then lost the licenses to play the files once Microsoft reorganized. It was either pay for the files again or go without them, so I paid Amazon for them the next time. I'm not giving Microsoft a dirty penny for a music pass. And I'm running out of patience with Cortana on my computer. For the record, I asked for the same song to be played on my Android smartphone. The response? Which of the installed music apps would you like to use? Absolutely no bias whatsoever. I did end up hearing the song later, on my refurbished fourth-generation Kindle Fire. It started right up. Alexa is helpful that way too. I wonder if there is Siri on my iPod 5?
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The music issue is not a Cortana limitation. It is a Groove limitation. I have many songs that I don't have rights to play because I don't have a Groove Music pass! Downloading these songs from OneDrive generally fixes the issue. I have been sending feedback about Groove requiring me to buy a Groove Music Pass to play music that I have purchased from the Microsoft Store for awhile. It seems they don't listen sometimes. My issue with Cortana is that she is not reliable. I mean that I can scream "Hey Cortana" all day, and not get a response. If I'm just sitting there and have my phone sit there, Cortana turns herself on and starts listening. This has been increasingly annoying with Windows 10 Mobile and PC! That's my issue.
The second issue is that Cortana will stop listening while a person is still talking. (annoying too). I hate saying this, but the quality Cortana begun with in Windows 8.1 has been dropped/ lost in Windows 10. Microsoft killing the Mobile division is their recent highest downfall. -
My hard drive music folder is backed up in OneDrive, so the song I wanted to play exists in at least two places to which Cortana has access. The problem is Microsoft's unwillingness to be flexible, which compounds their tendency to be a day late and a dollar short and challenges my enthusiasm for pretty much everything the company does. Microsoft can do better, and in this case, they definitely should.
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"Every major Windows 10 update bridges the gap further," I'd actually disagree with that. With every major Windows 10 update, the US gets new Cortana features while other regions are left behind and no new regions are added. I mean, when was the last time?
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Only 25 reactions yet. Perhaps, indeed ..... nobody care much for Cortana.
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Personally I don't care for these things no matter what device I have iPhone SE Moto Z or the Lumia 640.
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Or perhaps people do like Cortana and do not have anything more to add. Or perhaps people who do not find the use in a tool such as this one do not need to go into articles and have temper tantrums such as you do and make sure that eveyone need to know what they think.
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what a typically sexist image.
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Haha here we go.
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I wish we could change the voice in the UK to Jen Taylors voice. I much prefer Cortana's actual voice as opposed to the accent most americans presume we brits sound like. Here's a clue, 99% of the populous is not that posh lol!
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Lol
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You can actually change cortanas region to US in windows 10 without changing your phone's region. That's what i did. Everything still works fine and you get Jen taylor
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Well, don't you end up with the US app store? :P
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I didn't try before, but indeed she doesn't work anymore with music on mu phone. I don't mind speaking a foreign language to my phone, nor the fact that I cannot pronounce the names of my contacts right. This is stupid though. Even when she understands what I'm saying correctly, she cannot play the song...
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Frustratingly useless on a daily basis. In UK "Hey Cortana" barely works on my L950 and can do very little of worth over a wired headset without unlocking my phone first. Lets not start on the problem when I say the key phrase in front of my L950, Surface and my xbox, it's as if they don't want us to be fully in their ecosystem.
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Where did Cortana get it's name? From Cortana Mall in Baton Rouge, of course!! ;)
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I'd just be happy with bringing back quiet hours when ******* busy in calendar!
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I'm still having trouble with using Cortana in Canada. It opens up and then immediately crashes on my 950 XL, so i can't really even get it going; on my laptop, i use the 'hey Cortana' feature, she opens up, i ask a question, and then after a long pause, she says she is having problems, and then quits. I wish i could get it going so that i could at least review the ability and performance of this feature...
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Not sure about anyone else but ever since I started getting Redstone 2 builds on my 950XL, Cortana has had problems with finding contacts when I tell her to call or text someone. She will say she can't find the contact or a mobile number for the contact I want to text. She also doesn't find the contacts by nickname that I've entered when she did previously. I've posted about this in Feedback Hub, but haven't seen any responses.
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She looks like Phoebe Cates in Gremlins 2 with that short haircut...Yes I have recently seen Gremlins 2. LOL
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She still gets offended and refuses to answer every time I ask her how big those biscuits with gravy are.
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Lmao! I tried that and she said, "Moving on."
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Why is she so cute and hot?
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Probably because you're a heterosexual man, duh.
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Trusty, yet totally useless.
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Still lots of room for improvement...Microsoft needs to hurry and fix these issues if it wants to compete in the AI space long-term.
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You can not use Cortana in South Korea. This is because it is a non-supported country. Microsoft needs to expand Cortana to more countries. I am waiting for Cortana for the third year. When will I expand to various countries? Siri supports a variety of languages and supports Korean. The Google Assistant is reporting that you are learning Japanese and Korean. But Cortana has no news. I'm tired of waiting.
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I miss how Cortana and Hey Cortana worked on Windows Phone 8.1. It seemed more useful, required less input from me, actually scanned my emails and located packages and flights, and Hey Cortana actually worked. Cortana's voice to text comprehension seems worse too. I'll ask Cortana to text my girlfriend and Cortana will include her last name as the first word in the text. It didn't use to do that. I would also like the ability to tell Cortana to shut down my computer. The less I have to click or type the better.
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Tone down the naked "chick" aspect. A tad sexist. Guy in a speedo anyone?
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But Halo and Cortana are every teenage boys wet dream. Don't kill their dreams.
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when I installed windows 10 on my computer, one of the first things i did was kill cortana, not just disable it the way Ms wants us to disable it, but stop it running in the background. Just more spy rubbish from Micrsoft. Gone back to windows 8.1. no cortana for MS to try and enable again,
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Paranoid or what hahahaaa - I do hope you do not use any Google products, or shop on line or... no offense meant but damn :)
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Cortana is simply represented as she is in the Game series. I never really thought of her as naked but simply a 3d avatar of the character. To change the visual they would have to call it something else entirely. Just my opinion. Cheers, BR
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I did not see it mentioned yet.What I would like Cortana do is simple tasks in windows. For instance if you could say "hey cortana skip this song" in either Spotify or whatever music app is open and playing music. I remember using voice commands with an app many years ago called Dragon Dictate on windows 98. you could volume up or down or call out basic commands like stop, open, run and some basic text typing. Granted you had to spend most of the weekend training it to your voice but it was worth it to do some things while not directly at the PC. Cortana is pretty good at finding my phone. Not that I loose it often but just handy to know for when you need to use it.
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A brief history of Cortana here in New Zealand. It doesn't exist unless you lie and pretend to be in Australia. Sad thing is having done that it actually works quite well on Windows, but no way to easily fool an iOS or Android phone to do that. Hard to take Microsoft seriously when Bing is very limited, Cortana non-existent as a full native system.
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Nope. Waited and waited for it to be available without having to region-change my phone. Even for the countries that do have it, you get a hobbled version far from the US 'flagship' one. Moved to Android a month ago and didn't get any messages about a feature not being available because of region. Three years was long enough to wait....too late.
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Cortana? Started in 2014? It's 2017 and still not available in The Netherlands.
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On my 950 Cortana simply does not respond to "hey Cortana". cant even get to the end of the 6 voice learning section without Cortana say " didn't get that" "sorry still not getting it". Works on PC., not mobile :(