[eruptflail]

Unless MS made some innovations in linguistics I'm not aware of, they can't make voice recognition that is better than SIRI or google now, but it'll be about the same VR wise. The only hope they have is to integrate it in novel ways. I'm not holding my breath though.

[kjordan_29]

As long as it has the voice of Cortana, I'll use it.

[Reflexx]

Unless MS made some innovations in linguistics I'm not aware of, they can't make voice recognition that is better than SIRI or google now, but it'll be about the same VR wise. The only hope they have is to integrate it in novel ways. I'm not holding my breath though.

SIRI or Google Now don't have superior voice recognition to TellMe. MS Research is one of the top in the world when it comes to this.

What SIRI and Google Now have done is work on logic. Recognizing context based on the words that are used.

I forgot the actual term for it. I haven't worked in that industry for a little while, and even when I was there I wasn't a linguist. But I worked with a ton of linguists and AI engineers. It's really fascinating stuff.

[wapoz]

I wonder if we'll ever get a voice assistant that is "always listening" similar to the Moto X or similar to the XB1's Kinect somewhere down the line. I know the Moto X relies on somewhat custom hardware for it's voice assistant technology, but with MS controlling what type of hardware the OEMs can use on phones, it could be possible. Plus the groundwork seems to be laid pretty well in the way that Kinect handles voice commands and voice recognition. It would be nice to see them unify voice technology across desktop, tablet, and phone as well.

[martinmc78]

Just seen this posted by Microsoft next - TED talk on advanced AI - could this be the backbone of Cortana sounds like the revolution MS were talking about.

Meet Microsoft researcher Eric Horvitz€™s disarmingly human AI personal assistant - Next at Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

Watch from 18 minutes onwards for Demos on AI being used at MS campus.

[anony_mouse]

I wonder if we'll ever get a voice assistant that is "always listening" similar to the Moto X or similar to the XB1's Kinect somewhere down the line. I know the Moto X relies on somewhat custom hardware for it's voice assistant technology, but with MS controlling what type of hardware the OEMs can use on phones, it could be possible. Plus the groundwork seems to be laid pretty well in the way that Kinect handles voice commands and voice recognition. It would be nice to see them unify voice technology across desktop, tablet, and phone as well.

This would be awesome! Imagine all of your devices, listening to you, all the time. Google would be green with envy.
Next step after that is to have all your devices watching you, all the time. Every gesture, every sound, monitored continuously. 24 hours per day. 365 days per year. Nothing escaping their benevolent attention. And all those devices networked! Telescreens in every room.
What could possibly go wrong?

[martinmc78]

This would be awesome! Imagine all of your devices, listening to you, all the time. Google would be green with envy.
Next step after that is to have all your devices watching you, all the time. Every gesture, every sound, monitored continuously. 24 hours per day. 365 days per year. Nothing escaping their benevolent attention. And all those devices networked! Telescreens in every room.
What could possibly go wrong?

Where can I get one of your tin foil hats?

[wapoz]

This would be awesome! Imagine all of your devices, listening to you, all the time. Google would be green with envy.
Next step after that is to have all your devices watching you, all the time. Every gesture, every sound, monitored continuously. 24 hours per day. 365 days per year. Nothing escaping their benevolent attention. And all those devices networked! Telescreens in every room.
What could possibly go wrong?

Hurr, hurr, hurr. Nice fear mongering and exaggerations. What next, a reference to 1984, and a Ben Franklin quote about freedom?

[martinmc78]

Hurr, hurr, hurr. Nice fear mongering and exaggerations. What next, a reference to 1984, and a Ben Franklin quote about freedom?

Hes not far wrong though. Watch the video link I posted at 18 minutes - if that's what they are using already its both pretty great and pretty freaky at the same time. Can only mean good things though if its condensed for personal use in the home. Although the dude on the screen would have to go - I can see why they are spearheading Cortana she would be much more pleasant to interact with.

[anony_mouse]

Hurr, hurr, hurr. Nice fear mongering and exaggerations. What next, a reference to 1984, and a Ben Franklin quote about freedom?

There was already a reference to 1984 in my post.
Who is Ben Franklin?

[wapoz]

Hes not far wrong though. Watch the video link I posted at 18 minutes - if that's what they are using already its both pretty great and pretty freaky at the same time. Can only mean good things though if its condensed for personal use in the home. Although the dude on the screen would have to go - I can see why they are spearheading Cortana she would be much more pleasant to interact with.

Any new tech released can always be in some way used for a nefarious purpose. That doesn't mean that all innovation should stop, or that it won't come with some way to opt out. I just get tired of the privacy nutters who take the discourse the extreme and as a result start to bury any legitimate issues/discussion about privacy and tech under the rhetoric.

[martinmc78]

Any new tech released can always be in some way used for a nefarious purpose. That doesn't mean that all innovation should stop, or that it won't come with some way to opt out. I just get tired of the privacy nutters who take the discourse the extreme and as a result start to bury any legitimate issues/discussion about privacy and tech under the rhetoric.

Hes an android member - don't think privacy is an issue - just a bit of light hearted sarcasm.

[anony_mouse]

Any new tech released can always be in some way used for a nefarious purpose. That doesn't mean that all innovation should stop, or that it won't come with some way to opt out. I just get tired of the privacy nutters who take the discourse the extreme and as a result start to bury any legitimate issues/discussion about privacy and tech under the rhetoric.

Well that's put my concerns firmly in perspective! Actually, this could be fantastic. If some people start to discuss committing a crime (for example), their WP phones could immediately report that to the authorities. Also, if someone starts the say untrue things about Windows Phone, any nearby WP device could e-mail them (and their friends) with a rebuttal within seconds - or even better, just shout out what an ***** they are straight away!

[By the way, I didn't type ***** - that was a word beginning with 'i' meaning that someone is a fool]

[anony_mouse]

Hes an android member - don't think privacy is an issue - just a bit of light hearted sarcasm.

Just out of curiosty, what do you mean by "Hes [sic] an android member"? Has my Windows PC started informing on me already?

[wapoz]

Hes an android member - don't think privacy is an issue - just a bit of light hearted sarcasm.

Actually, he just seems to be a troll. I could care less about which platform he prefers. Also, he seems to be following one of my posts in another thread with the purpose of trolling them.

[martinmc78]

Just out of curiosty, what do you mean by "Hes [sic] an android member"? Has my Windows PC started informing on me already?

Yes it has, via my mouse. A couple of simple left clicks and I have access to your profile information. The same as everybody else on this open forum.

[anony_mouse]

Actually, he just seems to be a troll. I could care less about which platform he prefers. Also, he seems to be following one of my posts in another thread with the purpose of trolling them.

I would call it humour.

[anony_mouse]

Yes it has, via my mouse. A couple of simple left clicks and I have access to your profile information. The same as everybody else on this open forum.

Indeed you are right! I see that you are a member of some "Crackberry" forum. Sounds quite disturbing. Also, the incident last year with the iPhone and the squirrel - naughty naughty! I'm not surprised the old lady was so shocked.

PS. Where did you meet the squirrel? I have a friend who wants to know.

[txkimmers]

Aside from any other speculation, it's a fair bet that Cortana will have an insatiable appetite for cellular data and battery power. She's gotta be stuffing those holo-bewbs with something.

[martinmc78]

Indeed you are right! I see that you are a member of some "Crackberry" forum. Sounds quite disturbing. Also, the incident last year with the iPhone and the squirrel - naughty naughty! I'm not surprised the old lady was so shocked.

PS. Where did you meet the squirrel? I have a friend who wants to know.

Im sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about 😉





Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1020

[anony_mouse]

Im sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about

Anyway, enough of this joking around. Come on guys, this is the Internet!

Leaving aside privacy concerns, I am a bit sceptical about voice control in general (not just Cortana). Have you tried Siri? The voice recognition is quite impressive, and with a little practice I can even send e-mails with proper grammar. The problem is that it's slower and less accurate than controlling the device by hand or typing, even on a touch screen. There are some situations where it could be useful, such as when driving. But in general it seems inherently more frustrating to use. I'm not convinced I will be talking to my phone in ten years time. And I certainly don't want it to answer back. I think my iPad looks down on me.

Sent from my house

[typhon62_1]

This would be awesome! Imagine all of your devices, listening to you, all the time. Google would be green with envy.
Next step after that is to have all your devices watching you, all the time. Every gesture, every sound, monitored continuously. 24 hours per day. 365 days per year. Nothing escaping their benevolent attention. And all those devices networked! Telescreens in every room.
What could possibly go wrong?

I could see easily see law enforcement being able to ask your AI what you were up to last Tuesday, and don't leave anything out!
The AI will be on a server somewhere, not your phone. It would be easy to do.

[GSOgymrat]

Every voice activated device I have used has been a disappointment. Siri, Google Search, Windows Speech Recognition, Windows Phone... they all have far too many errors. I don't really want a voice assistant that anticipates what I want. I want a voice assistant that understands normal speech and gets it right 99.99% percent of the time. I would also like Cortana to be well integrated into all Windows devices and most apps. I want to be able to say "Play song Free Falling by Tom Petty" or "Play some Christmas music" and have it play from Xbox Music Pass, not just from songs on my phone. I want to say "Play the latest episode of Grimm" and have it play the appropriate episode on Hulu. I want to say on Xbox "Show my photos from Christmas last year" and have them streamed from Skydrive.

Does anyone have any idea when Cortana is supposed to be released?