Pleasant surprise with my 640XL today

[Arizona Willie]

I was going to the shopping center to get an Armour screen protector put on the phone.
Yes, I know it's Gorilla Glass3 but better safe than sorry.

Besides that one of the few things about this phone that I don't like is the glossy screen and they now have a matte screen protector that takes the glare away but otherwise is just like the glossy ones. Really nice from what I've seen of it so far.

Anyway, I had seen an ad for a Japanese Steakhouse at the shopping center and I didn't know where it was so I asked Cortana ( wish I could change the name ) to remind me to look it up when I got to the Superstition Springs Shopping Center.

She asked me if the one at 6555 E. Superstition Blvd was the one I meant ( like there's two of them? ) and I said ' yes ' and she said ' ok I will remind you. '

Well I wasn't expecting much and thought she would probably remind me when I hit the parking lot.
But, no, just silence.

Then as I was walking through the center, just about dead center of it, she came up with the reminder.

I thought that was pretty damn good.

Couldn't believe she was so accurate as to do it right smack in the middle of the center. Although if my errands hadn't taken me to the exact center, she might not have ever given me the reminder.

Anyway, it was a nice surprise to have her work so well.

Her understanding of speech amazes me. I have Dragon Naturally Speaking on my desktop and I can't get it to do near as well as Cortana does.

I complain a lot about the phone so thought it was only right to post about something that works very very well.

 

[Nicholas Maguire]

Yeah, Cortana is pretty darn good. I love her! And about her name.. of course you can't change it. That's for a reason.. Cortana is the character from Halo and it uses the same voice actress as he Halo character. It's an important assistant character from a very important Microsoft game.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

Yeah, Cortana is pretty darn good. I love her! And about her name.. of course you can't change it. That's for a reason.. Cortana is the character from Halo and it uses the same voice actress as he Halo character. It's an important assistant character from a very important Microsoft game.

Nicholas,
I hate Code Geass but love, love, love your avatar
I should do something Anime related with my own(Probably from Gangsta. or Arslan)

But yeah Cortana is pretty awesome. She is a great reminder and more importantly I actually like her name lol

 

[perpleSlerp]

If you like Microsoft (and their venders/partners/government/etc) knowing your whereabouts 24/7 Cortana is a great thing! Not for me though.

 

[Joshwin]

hmm did you at least thank her?

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

If you like Microsoft (and their venders/partners/government/etc) knowing your whereabouts 24/7 Cortana is a great thing! Not for me though.

Most people aren't that overly concerned.

Considering I have little to worry about and if Microsoft and others want to keep up with my boring routine of college, Starbucks, gym, Chili's and the mall, then by all means go for it

 

[Nicholas Maguire]

Nicholas,
I hate Code Geass but love, love, love your avatar
I should do something Anime related with my own(Probably from Gangsta. or Arslan)

But yeah Cortana is pretty awesome. She is a great reminder and more importantly I actually like her name lol

Hah, thanks! Code Geass is my favorite anime though

 

[gordonfink]

If you like Microsoft (and their venders/partners/government/etc) knowing your whereabouts 24/7 Cortana is a great thing! Not for me though.

This is actually exactly why I dot have Cortana enabled on my phone. If I could do it w/o location services, I would. Since I can't, Cortana is not active on my phone, nor will be on my Surface.

 

[perpleSlerp]

Most people aren't that overly concerned.

Considering I have little to worry about and if Microsoft and others want to keep up with my boring routine of college, Starbucks, gym, Chili's and the mall, then by all means go for it

That's a typical and weak argument in general. You personally can allow and support tracking of your whereabouts by third parties and government all you want, however other people actually like to be left alone and to tend to their own business...

 

[Arizona Willie]

It may be your opinion, but that doesn't mean there is anything to worry about.
You are afraid of government " spying " on you, obviously..

 

[TLRtheory]

As long as there's users, there will always exist those... ready to misinterpret security reports to whatever extent is needed so that they can preach their word of corporate/gov't spies.

At my second job, I want so badly to tell clients "Bro, NO ONE cares about going through your files." when they come in with tape over their camera worrying that one of my IT trainees will go through their stuff.

 

[perpleSlerp]

It may be your opinion, but that doesn't mean there is anything to worry about.
You are afraid of government " spying " on you, obviously..

Using that "logic", would that make you afraid of your neighbors, just because you don't want them peeking in your windows?

 

[RumoredNow]

The tracking is just to provide the best in services.

If "tracking" is a problem, your carrier has you pinging off towers all day every day so your location can be found and tracked that way.

In point of fact, law enforcement will approach your carrier and get 100% cooperation on tracking you. Cortana's owners need not be involved and you turning off Location Services on your phone does nothing to stop the tracking. Did you know if they choose to, law enforcement can listen through your cell phone even when it is powered off? This is old news...

fbi uses cell phone mic as wire tap - Bing


Another point, Microsoft has already been in court for denying law enforcement access to data on it's servers outside that law enforcement agency's jurisdiction.

microsoft refuses access to data on foreign servers - Bing


So if it is law enforcement or "big brother" you worry about, the only way to avoid that is not to have a cell phone, or at least one with a battery in it.

If it is Microsoft, all they are trying to do is make your smart phone the best tool they can for your use and convenience.

If it is a third party, please explain how they are accessing the data and how it compromises your integrity...

 

[RumoredNow]

[WARN]Let's keep the debate on the general issue and not on each other. K?[/WARN]

 

[Derausgewanderte]

So if it is law enforcement or "big brother" you worry about, the only way to avoid that is not to have a cell phone, or at least one with a battery in it.

didn't want to derail this but this talks a lot about mobile inspection/injection
it's long but worth the listen I think...
36:50 a specific example for smartphones.
44:30 iPhone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0w36GAyZIA&feature=share

 

[poit57]

I've had limited usage with location based reminders so far. Once, I told Cortana to remind me of something when I left my mother's house, but the reminder popped up about 4 times while I was still inside the house. Other times when I've told it to remind me when I get to a certain place, that has worked pretty well, whether approaching a specific intersection or being in the parking lot of a public building.

 

[hagjohn]

If you like Microsoft (and their venders/partners/government/etc) knowing your whereabouts 24/7 Cortana is a great thing! Not for me though.

If you phone is on, everyone already knows where you are!

Anyway, the 640 XL with Cortana is a great phone.

 

[RumoredNow]

Once, I told Cortana to remind me of something when I left my mother's house, but the reminder popped up about 4 times while I was still inside the house.

Geofencing only works when entering the circle... I don't think you can set it for exiting the circle. At least not that I've heard of.

 

[poit57]

Geofencing only works when entering the circle... I don't think you can set it for exiting the circle. At least not that I've heard of.

If that's the case, I find it strange that Cortana would accept a reminder for "when I leave" a specific place. I just set a test reminder for "when I leave work" today to see what happens. Cortana stored the trigger for the reminder as "when you leave work."

 

[RumoredNow]

Let us know how the test goes... I think the text is just parroting what you input.