The Cortana Setup Guide

[Talderon]

Is it valid to think about the quiet mode with inner circle as bedside mode and custom contact notifications or do/will these settings work deeper into Cortana?

These two settings require Cortana to function, so if you are in an area with no Cortana, you will not see these features.

Right now, this is just the tip of the iceberg with these kinds of features for Cortana. More will come that will allow you to make sure your mobile device can be customized to your way of life.

I guess you can think of it as bedside mode, however, it already goes past that. If you have Quiet Hours linked to your calendar, you can set it up so that every time you are marked busy on your calendar, Quiet Hours will turn on. So for those that have a lot of meetings and appointments, this is great because you don't have to worry about silencing your phone.

You can also speak to Cortana to have her enable/disable Quiet Hours and other settings (BT, Airplane Mode, WiFi and all that).

 

[Neo Nuke]

Right now, her offline functionality is really... well... it's barely there. For v1, the online services and features were the key to getting her off the ground. As time goes on, her offline functions should expand and allows us to user her even further.

I hope offline use cases still include the ability to launch apps with voice like we do now with TellMe or how we have our messages read out to us with the ability to reply. A lot of replacements in windows phone become steps backward in basic functionalities as in the Xbox Music versus Zune for syncing and music collection organization. I know we can no longer jump into bing vision for QR codes and such. I think it is lenses now. Can you elaborate or put us at ease about these features ?

 

[Talderon]

I hope offline use cases still include the ability to launch apps with voice like we do now with TellMe or how we have our messages read out to us with the ability to reply. A lot of replacements in windows phone become steps backward in basic functionalities as in the Xbox Music versus Zune for syncing and music collection organization. I know we can no longer jump into bing vision for QR codes and such. I think it is lenses now. Can you elaborate or put us at ease about these features ?

I played around with her some and things like Launching Apps by Voice Command works without data. Her speech recognition is still awesome without an online connection. I will test the texting and all that later, but pretty much anything you need to do locally on the device SHOULD work. I know there are a couple exceptions (like search) since it tries Web first and dies.

Keeping in mind that mine is still an early build (they stopped updating internal builds a week or so ago in preparation for the Dev Preview rollout). There are still some teams that are using special builds for other testing, but I am not on that stuff. I do know that the Core is RTM, just stuff outside of Core (Cortana for example) were not RTM.

 

[jlangner]

Thanks for info. What about settings like who is brother, sister, etc, where are those set, or are they just nicknames you set in inner circle?

 

[Talderon]

Thanks for info. What about settings like who is brother, sister, etc, where are those set, or are they just nicknames you set in inner circle?

Those are nicknames you set in either Inner Circle or in the Contact Details.

Difference is, Inner Circle can have up to 3 nicknames, where those not in there can only have one. Not to mention that Inner Circle is used with Quiet Hours at this time.

 

[Reebs Reebs]

Thanks for taking the time again!

Sent from my RM-893_nam_tmous_201 using Tapatalk

 

[anon(8555314)]

Question about Bing Search history--how important is this for Cortana learning about one's interests? Will Cortana on WP utilize search history made on windows 8 devices? I had been using a Bing bot to rack up bing rewards, but recently cleared my bing history and stopped using bing bot in anticipation of Cortana, but perhaps this is a false assumption. My thought was that all the random searching by the bing bot would throw cortana off the rails, but maybe that is irrelevant.

 

[Talderon]

Question about Bing Search history--how important is this for Cortana learning about one's interests? Will Cortana on WP utilize search history made on windows 8 devices? I had been using a Bing bot to rack up bing rewards, but recently cleared my bing history and stopped using bing bot in anticipation of Cortana, but perhaps this is a false assumption. My thought was that all the random searching by the bing bot would throw cortana off the rails, but maybe that is irrelevant.

Honestly, I have not even looked into that. I will have to give it a whirl and see what I can come up with. I'll work on this tomorrow, almost time to go home from work!!!

 

[Reebs Reebs]

Talderon, question regarding long pressing the Windows button. What does it do now? I'm assuming Tell Me isn't active anymore. What does it do now?

 

[Talderon]

Talderon, question regarding long pressing the Windows button. What does it do now? I'm assuming Tell Me isn't active anymore. What does it do now?

Long Press HOME button does not do anything.

Long Press the Search button and you will be put into Cortana with the Mic on waiting for a verbal query.

 

[Reebs Reebs]

Long Press HOME button does not do anything.

Long Press the Search button and you will be put into Cortana with the Mic on waiting for a verbal query.

long press to talk to Cortana and short press to type to Cortana?

 

[theefman]

I don't think I've seen this asked anywhere, but can we still initiate calls and reply to texts via BT headset? Thanks.

Sent from my Venue 11 Pro 5130 using Tapatalk

 

[Talderon]

long press to talk to Cortana and short press to type to Cortana?

Short press to launch the Cortana app.

I don't think I've seen this asked anywhere, but can we still initiate calls and reply to texts via BT headset? Thanks.

Sent from my Venue 11 Pro 5130 using Tapatalk

I have to try, not a BT headset kinda guy (I have B T headphones though).

 

[darkest.white]

You have to have the Region set to US-English at this time to get Cortana to work.

I have not tried it on leaving a place, I will try that today when I leave work and let you all know.

Thanks for answering my last question!

A couple more for you though.

First, you say that region has to be set to US English. For example, I am in Canada, so I have it set to Canada. If I download Windows Phone 8.1 with Canadian region. It won't have cortana. But then what if I then change my region to us and check for updates? Will it update to a version with cortana? Or will cortana just be downloadable as an app?

And second! I'm waiting for a specific feature... But I doubt you have any info on it. There has been some demand of when you have a notification your Windows Logo with slowly pulse with light. Do you know if this is a feature coming?

Thanks again! And PS. totally jealous of your job, I'm a huge Microsoft fan, using anything else just feels wrong. I WILL be working for them one day and I can't wait. Its my dream job

 

[anon(8150199)]

Hey, just wondering about the screen projecting, I'm on a L920 and can I use Miracast with WP8.1?

 

[L Beezy]

Excellent guide on Cortana! Can't wait until 8.1 Developer's Preview drops.

By the way, does Microsoft need any mechanical engineers? I'll be graduating next spring...*hint hint*

 

[shloime]

the main 2 questions:
how much is the battery life improved in 8.1? and is cortana able to read emails, websites,etc through bluetooth(car, and headsets)?
thanks in advance

 

[Susmit257]

Looks like, this is becoming microsoft recruitment thread... Lol... But yes , working in MS would be like a dream...

 

[Talderon]

I will get to the questions here as soon as I am able.

Thanks all!!!

 

[Reebs Reebs]

Thanks for answering my last question!

A couple more for you though.

First, you say that region has to be set to US English. For example, I am in Canada, so I have it set to Canada. If I download Windows Phone 8.1 with Canadian region. It won't have cortana. But then what if I then change my region to us and check for updates? Will it update to a version with cortana? Or will cortana just be downloadable as an app?

And second! I'm waiting for a specific feature... But I doubt you have any info on it. There has been some demand of when you have a notification your Windows Logo with slowly pulse with light. Do you know if this is a feature coming?

Thanks again! And PS. totally jealous of your job, I'm a huge Microsoft fan, using anything else just feels wrong. I WILL be working for them one day and I can't wait. Its my dream job

My coworker just got a job there with and moved. I guess he's an ex-coworker now, but still a very close friend. I also would like to work for them one day, but I'm happy where I am now Maybe one day.. You never know!