Windows 10 Cortana issue for owners of Windows Phones...

[rhapdog]

Okay, here's an issue, that I saw in the comments section of an article here.

If you are using "Hey, Cortana" on Windows 10, Cortana will pop up and ask you what you want. She'll also pop up from your 930 and any other Lumias that use Hey Cortana that you have sitting on the desk next to your computer.

We need a way to tell Cortana which device to use.

I kind of like what Tony Stark did with Jarvis. "Jarvis, import all preferences from home interface and upload into the suit."

Perhaps something like, "Hey, Cortana, transfer to (Name of PC or Phone as identified by the MS account that lists your devices)". If you type it into a specific device, then something typed like "Transfer to this device" and she would understand, and send a push notification to your other devices to disable herself on other devices until you transfer her back, so that you can use her on one device at a time.

When she "transfers", she would make sure she is currently synced with the settings on OneDrive, then send notifications to your other devices that she is currently on "this" device.

Not an issue if you don't have Hey Cortana on a second device, but I can see where this will cause frustration.

What do you think? Is this something worth opening on UserVoice? I don't have Hey Cortana on a phone, so really can't speak to it.

 

[cool8man]

This was one of the first things I worried about when I saw Joe Belfiore demo "Hey Cortana" on stage. Am I going to have 6 different Windows devices in my home spring to life every time I say "Hey Cortana." How will it know which device I want to talk to? I know there is a way to train Cortana on Windows Phone to only respond to your voice, but that doesn't solve the problem of having multiple devices trained to your voice. Seems to me like the only reasonable way to mitigate this problem is to allow a different phrase or name for each device.

If they add "Hey Cortana" to Xbox One I can Imagine all the phones tablets laptops and Xbox in your living room responding to the same command. I think your solution is a little too complicated and fiddly for the average person to deal with.

 

[JamesDax]

People just go out of there way to make up problems.

 

[tiziano27]

Cortana beeps when is activated. The faster device wins, the other devices detect the beep and stop the activation. That's a low tech solution.

A more advanced solution could be to ping a service when the device is used, for example, just picking up the phone activates the accelerometer sensor, this should ping the service. When the user utters "hey Cortana" and she enters the activation process in each device, each device ask to the service if It is the device being used at the moment.

 

[cool8man]

People just go out of there way to make up problems.

Yeah because nobody sits in front of their Xbox One with a tablet or smartphone or laptop. Nobody charges their phone next to their PC. If "Hey Cortana" activates devices you don't want it to it will get old really fast. This is not a made up problem. This is a serious problem that could instantly turn Cortana into an annoying "Clippy-like" thing that everyone permanently shuts off and never uses again. If MS doesn't handle Cortana right from day one it could quickly turn into a thing that everyone makes fun of Microsoft for ever thinking was a good idea on a PC. Cortana has the potential to become the most annoying and intrusive thing about Windows 10 if they don't handle it thoughtfully.

I am 100% behind Cortana being on every device, but it has to be implemented right. There is no room for mistakes on this, it has to be implemented smart from day one so it doesn't get a reputation as an annoyance or hindrance.

 

[harshraj]

Cortana beeps when is activated. The faster device wins, the other devices detect the beep and stop the activation. That's a low tech solution.

A more advanced solution could be to ping a service when the device is used, for example, just picking up the phone activates the accelerometer sensor, this should ping the service. When the user utters "hey Cortana" and she enters the activation process in each device, each device ask to the service if It is the device being used at the moment.

What about laptop and desktop? How will they send info to mobile, for not responding ?