Honest first impressions of Cortana

[AinsleyVinall]

After discovering online how to activate Cortana in the UK on my Lumia 1020 I was eager to try it out. I started by askingsome b asic questions like "what is the time in New York" and found that even though she did display it for me onscreen Cortana failed to actually reply, I tried a few more questions and found for things like the weather and places nearby she did provide basic answers but I was still rather overwhelmed. I did like that she asked politely if she was pronouncing my name correctly and for all the fuss I'm making she isn't that bad. I asked her at one point when Mario Kart: Double Dash was released and she did read out the exact date to me to my great surprise. However this was let down by simple things such as me asking "How do I get to Paris" and her showing me it is 265 miles away but not asking if would like to begin navigating or even reading aloud her response.

Being a Windows Phone and Microsoft fan this did not push me away from the operating system but I did feel a little disappointed after there had been such much hype leading up to her release. I understand Cortana is still in beta at the moment and will be improved upon constantly over the next year, but I felt there should be a bit more she can do before I can show her off to my friends.

Was anyone elses' first impressions of Cortana a little disappointing, should Microsoft have waited until she was more developed before releasing her at all? I'm interested in other people's opinions and experiences of Microsoft's "truly personal" assistant.

 

[RumoredNow]

I think... think, not have direct documentation... that a part of what people expect from Cortana fails due to region.

Bear with me.

You have Cortana officially in the UK, yes. So a general question gets answered: "What time is it in New York?" or "When did x occur?"

But getting to Paris... France isn't a region for Cortana yet. Do you have a map of France downloaded to your device for Here? It should not matter on the surface (as you'll see in a second), but might make a difference as Cortana plays catch up in the UK.

Just before writing this I tried something local: "How do I get to St. Louis?" Cortana verbally answered, "Sure, getting you directions to St. Louis." Then Here Drive opened with the Navigation, all ready to go. Absolutely, I have my home state map downloaded for offline Nav.

Next I tried something a bit farther away. "How do I get to Edmonton?" Cortana verbally answered, "Sure, getting you directions to Edmonton." Then Here Drive opened with the Navigation, all ready to go. It took a bit longer... Maybe the distance, maybe the sorting out. I don't have any Canada maps downloaded to my device. Still, Cortana found it and Canada is online (?) or about to be online with an Alpha of Cortana.

Then I went further afield. "How do I get to Mexico City?" Cortana verbally answered, "Sure, getting you directions to Mexico City." Then Here Drive opened with the Navigation, all ready to go. Took even longer this time. I have no Mexico maps downloaded and Cortana is not released in Mexico. Still Cortana found the way for me...

The difference? Myself and a couple million Americans have been using Cortana since April, building her knowledge base of what we want and how we ask for it. Plus a few million others around the globe who changed their region to the US to test the Cortana waters.

The whole, "I'm a UK user," thing is new to her. Keep using Cortana and promoting her use. She'll get smarter for you quite quickly as I've seen here in the US. Microsoft is really committing to tight update cycles for Cortana. You can tell they are banking on her to make them more visible in Mobile.