Cortana Integration Performance

[musikHersteller]

I read an article on Gizmodo saying it took almost 30 seconds to register a Cortana voice command from the Band to their Windows Phone.

While I'm not so sure how many people in the media like anything Microsoft comes out with, I'd like to get a full-time Band owners opinion on it.

I'm considering one, and this could make or break the decision in a few days or weeks. Thanks!

 

[rschaefe]

Based on my experience, Cortana isn't always snappy in responding via the Band. That isn't the case for other Bluetooth devices I use, like my car's stereo and a BT speaker. I don't know the technical reason for the slowdown, so I can't speak to that.

There are a few things that seem to help in general when using Cortana. I get better results when I speak "into my wrist" with the Band close to my mouth. Also, sometimes Cortana doesn't automatically sense that I'm finished speaking, and waits for the timer bar to run down - instead of waiting, pushing the action button will send my command right away.

This may be an area where things improve over time. Even as it is now, it's still a useful addition, and I'm glad for it.

One other thought - it's sort of weird to speak to Cortana and get a text response back, due to the Band's lack of a speaker. It sort of breaks the last few months of being trained to expect a voice response when giving a voice command, and a text response for a typed command.

 

[musikHersteller]

That makes sense. Thanks rschaefe. What kind of device do you have? I have a Lumia 925 w/Cyan + DP Windows 8.1 on T-Mobile.

I'm test driving a Samsung Wear Live smartwatch with my Galaxy S5, but having something that works pretty well on Android and Windows Phone both would be helpful. The smartwatch I'm testing right now only works with Android OS.

 

[Richard Servello]

Sadly, Cortana is a bit slow, and often misses what you said. When it works its great...but its currently very hit or miss. But this is v1.0 band and Cortana is beta...so in due time.

 

[dorelse]

Yes, she can be a mighty slow sometimes. Sometimes it will take the full countdown for the phone to wake up and analyze what you've said. I've only had it not work a couple of times, but yes, it can be slow.

Gen 1 performance IMO, and likely has to do with my HTC 8XT running on DP 8.1.1 as well.

 

[Richard Servello]

You can press the action after you speak to end the timer and process it.

 

[musikHersteller]

That's great to know! Thanks. I'm hoping to check them out at the local Microsoft Store. I was about to buy one late last week but they were out of stock, so that's where the other watch came into play, to see how it was. Pretty good chance at this point that I will ultimately choose the Band.

I believe with the recent changes and added determination at Microsoft, things will start coming together nicely at Microsoft between early and the middle of next year -- depending on if you're an early adopter (Technical Previews, etc.)

 

[dorelse]

You can press the action after you speak to end the timer and process it.

Really? Good tip!

 

[mhc48]

The more complex a request you give it, the more time it takes. For those sorts of things pulling out your phone might be better for you, but I still prefer using the band when driving.

I just read the article you are referring to and .....Jeez. He calls it a serious bug that he lost two days of data when the batteries ran out after 2 days. Gimme a break. The one thing that anyone knows about this device is that the batteries only last 2 days. If he pushes it, or forgets to recharge the Band is that a defect in the Band or him?? Nor would/should the data have been lost if synced to the phone app. He seems to have an Android phone, I don't know how that works but my data syncs at least daily.

Many of the rest of his observations seem pretty positive, he just wishes the Band would do more things or better, which MS is working on. Nothing I read in the actual body matched up with the attention grabbing title that it the Band "breaks your heart".

 

[Joe920]

You can press the action after you speak to end the timer and process it.

Is there also a way to cancel commands from the band? Sometimes I flub my lines..

 

[mhc48]

I should probably have noted in my post about occasional delay that I have the 635, which itself can sometimes be slow with Cortana.

 

[musikHersteller]

For the most part I agree with you. In a future version (firmware or product) it would be nice if the device shut off before the battery was drained entirely. This would be helpful if you're in a place where your phone is in a similar situation and you'd rather not use more features (Bluetooth) to drain it. Hiking outside comes to mind.

The media loves to sensationalize and hate on Microsoft. Kind of old-hat now. Microsoft as a company needs to prove them wrong if they want to succeed, which, hopefully, they will in the consumer sector (though I've been saying that for years).

 

[musikHersteller]

My dad has a 635. Isn't the absolute fastest phone in general, but for the price, hard to go wrong. Similar Android devices are terrible at that price point in my experience.