At this point, I think we're all a bit sick of Siri. She was a nice bit of bonus entertainment to have around when she first appeared on the iPhone 4S, but in technology's ever forward march to the future, isn't it about time for something better? Like, perhaps a shapely blue A.I. construct who helped put both the Forerunners and the Convenant in their place four times over? Sounds good to me.
To rival Apple's Siri, that's apparently what Microsoft has planned for Window Phones. The boys at Cupertino are placing 343's design into future phones to take the voice orders of customers the world over.
ZDnet reports that back in June, screens of an early Windows Phone OS version were leaked, showing an app called 'zCortana'. The 'z' suggests it was a test build. It's alleged that the app was a personal assistant program in the vein of Siri, set to replace the phone's current "TellMe" service early of next year.
Personally, I can only hope that the app won't go rampant within the same time span as the rest of Microsoft's fictional artificial intelligences. But even if that happens to be the case, most of us upgrade our phones to a new model before seven years is up.
The ZDnet author writes that according to her contacts, "Cortana will be more than just an app that lets users interact with their phones more naturally using voice commands. Cortana is core to the makeover of the entire "shell" - the core services and experience - of the future versions of Windows Phone, Windows and the Xbox One operating systems."
However, in all of the information Microsoft has been given to amp up anticipation for the Xbox One, nothing about a Cortana tech has been mentioned, even with the console's new version of Kinect, a place where it sounds like (according to ZDnet's description) Cortana would be a welcome fit.
On a similar note, even Marvel has plans for a similar app, set to introduce the Iron Man movies' own JARVIS to iOS devices. It's not as comprehensive as Siri or (possibly) Cortana, but it sounds neat. According to a Marvel press release...
"JARVIS will help you wake up, control your Blu-ray of Marvel's "Iron Man 3" and much more. Activate JARVIS through a simple setup process and get ready for an entirely new Second Screen Experience, where JARVIS will literally be a part of your daily routine. Browse through all 42 of Tony Stark's armors in the interactive Armor Gallery, gain access to exclusive content as well as be able to control the Blu-ray menus with either a digital remote or simply by using your voice.
But that's not all JARVIS can do! Check out our full list of features from the upcoming app:
- Like Tony Stark, users can engage JARVIS through voice-activated commands
- Receive messages from JARVIS, download ringtones, post to Facebook and more
- Check time, local weather as well as set alarms through the integrated Clock mode
- Initiate media delivered in messages, including video, audio, image, ringtone or website
- Install unique ringtones
- Unlock 42 unique Iron Man suits (plus additional "Ghost" file)
- When connected to the same network as the Blu-ray player, JARVIS will function as the Blu-ray remote control, or the user can simply "say what you see" and the app will do the rest."
Granted, it's more of a companion app to the "Iron Man 3" DVD, but I'll take JARVIS's snarkiness over Siri who can't be bothered to understand the most basic forms of speech.
