Microsoft is prepping its Siri/Google Now competitor for an April debut. She’ll be called “Cortana,” and will feature the voice of actress Jen Taylor. Why Ms. Taylor? Because, Halo.
Cortana will bow in beta form on Nokia’s Lumia devices in April, according to a report from Microsoft watchers MSFTnerd. The Siri competitor will feature the voice of Jen Taylor, the same actress who played the eponymous artificial intelligence companion in Microsoft’s blockbuster Halo franchise.
Microsoft is planning to roll their virtual personal assistant out to more than just mobile devices. Following a Fall 2014 iOS debut, Cortana will also serve users on the Windows and Xbox platforms.
If you’re a Windows user and would like to take a sneak peek at the technology behind Cortana, check out the Bing Translator app for Windows. Microsoft is reportedly rolling out Cortana-derived enhancements to that app’s speech recognition system.
