Microsoft’s Siri rival Cortana caught on video

By tech2 News Staff /  06 Mar 2014 , 16:48

We already caught a glimpse of Microsoft’s voice-based virtual personal assistant Cortana through some screenshots earlier, but today we have a video which shows what it will look and work like.

Cortana will ask users for permission to scan their account before it gets working. You have to let look at your email, browser and search history, text messages and calendar. Cortana will need you to have a Microsoft Account and doesn’t work without one.

After you sign in with your Microsoft account, the app asks you your preferred name and will then practice saying it till you feel it’s right. It will then ask you a series of questions to determine some things about you. It will ask you things like the most enjoyable part of your evenings, your eating preferences, your motivation in life to do things, reading habits and your leisure activities.

When it’s done absorbing all this information, Cortana asks “What can I help you with?”. The video goes on to show a new feature called Quiet Hours, where Cortana will handle incoming text messages and calls when you have a meeting scheduled or are snoozing off.

While we are not any certain about this being the final build of Cortana, Microsoft has a very interesting product at hand and could revitalize the Windows Phone platform, just as Siri brought new possibilities for iOS. Cortana and Windows Phone 8.1 areexpected to be revealed at Microsoft’s Build Conference next month.

News Source: tech.firstpost.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 4:46 AM in called, Cortana, iOS, Microsoft’s, next month, Phone 8.1, questions, Siri rival, snoozing, Windows

Microsoft’s Nadella Said to Shake Up Staff With Penn Role

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, in an effort to reignite growth, is shuffling management and putting former political operative Mark Penn in the new role of chief strategy officer, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Tony Bates, who was passed over for the CEO job, is leaving the company, with Eric Rudder, the head of advanced strategy, taking over his duties, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced. Tami Reller, the executive vice president in charge of marketing, is also leaving and being replaced by Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela, the people said.

The shakeup is the most extensive yet for Nadella, who was named CEO in February after a five-month search and is tasked with speeding up a turnaround at the world’s biggest software maker. He’ll be leaning on a former political strategist in Penn, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s failed 2008 presidential bid. More recently, Penn developed Microsoft’s “Don’t Get Scroogled” advertising campaign, a political-style attack on rival Google Inc.

The overhaul follows last month’s announcement that hardware group chief Julie Larson-Green will move to the applications and services unit.

Frank Shaw, a spokesman for the Redmond, Washington-based company, declined to comment. The departures of Bates and Reller were previously reported by the Re/code blog.

Microsoft shares in Frankfurt were little changed at the equivalent of $37.91 at 10:08 a.m. local time.

Mobile Trouble

Nadella, a 22-year Microsoft veteran, is the company’s third CEO after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. He’s charged with reigniting expansion at a company that hasn’t seen sales growth exceed 6 percent since 2011. Microsoft’s investments in mobile haven’t put a dent in Google and Apple Inc.’s control of the smartphone market, while cloud applications from competitors pose an increasing threat to Microsoft’s flagship Windows business.

Bates was among the leading internal candidates for the top job, along with Nadella and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner. Bates, a former Cisco Systems Inc. executive, ran Microsoft’s Skype unit before becoming an executive vice president in July. Reller, who joined Microsoft in 2001, was also promoted to executive vice president in July and led marketing for the Windows 8 operating system.

Microsoft shares have gained 5.4 percent since Nadella’s appointment on Feb. 4, closing at $38.31 in New York last week. The stock has trailed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in three of the past four years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam at ptam13@bloomberg.net

News Source: www.bloomberg.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 2:56 AM in $37.9, Bill Gates, Chief Executive, Frankfurt, Microsoft’s, Mobile, MSFT, Penn Role, Satya Nadella, Shake