Cortana, Windows 10 and Us Mortals

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#1348318 21-Jul-2015 12:24

Michaelfjs:
wasabi2k:
MikeB4:
nathan: NZ is not rolling out at the same time as AU

Cortana relies on Bing. bing in NZ is in beta, but it is being worked on, I just can't disclose when sorry

That would be great as I use Bing as my default search engine and resort to Google as a last resort

You are the 0.00005%...

I'm just not sure I care about Cortana. I feel a dick "talking" to my computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu88J5JL8Hw

I use Bing too. I find it just as good as Google.

The only thing I use of Google is street view.

I agree, I feel like a dick as well talking to my computer, I only do it as long and there is absolutely no one around that can hear me. (like in the car while driving, where it's actually pretty useful).

For folks with disabilities assistants like Cortana add another tool that makes computing that bit easier

Jaxson

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#1348327 21-Jul-2015 12:32

MikeB4:
I don't know if it is my hearing but Siri's Kiwi accent on my iPhone does not sound Kiwi to me.

As far as I know it doesn't change the spoken side of things, just the understanding of the voice input.

CruciasNZ:
Those are both voice assistants not available on the platforms this thread is about.

I know neither google voice search or Siri are available on Windows 10, but what I'm saying is there are alternatives available in the meantime.

wasabi2k:

I'm just not sure I care about Cortana. I feel a dick "talking" to my computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu88J5JL8Hw

Agreed, that's what I was saying. There has been a push towards a unified OS across both mobile and desktop computers, but I still fundamentally use these two devices quite differently.
Maybe laptops bridge the gap, and Windows tablets certainly will, but I have no desire to talk to PC's, and certainly not in the work place.
I think personally that Windows 8 showed the public do not want such a merger of tablet/phone features on a PC.

I'd like Cortana to work, for the mobility issue specifically mentioned earlier, but I'd use a phone to do the voice type commands of 'set a reminder' or 'what's the weather going to be like?' etc.
Obviously Microsoft will be at quite a disadvantage if their phone platform can't do this on Windows 10 here in NZ.
I would have thought you'd enable it for those local set alarm, set reminder, text this person, what $2000,000 divided by 52? calculation type commands that don't rely on the internet or a specific search engine to return the answer.

stevenz

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#1348334 21-Jul-2015 12:46

MikeB4:
wasabi2k:
MikeB4:
nathan: NZ is not rolling out at the same time as AU

Cortana relies on Bing. bing in NZ is in beta, but it is being worked on, I just can't disclose when sorry

That would be great as I use Bing as my default search engine and resort to Google as a last resort

You are the 0.00005%...

I'm just not sure I care about Cortana. I feel a dick "talking" to my computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu88J5JL8Hw

Being 0.00005% means 0.000000005% to me. Bing is sitting around 20% US

Talking to ones PC is no different to talking to ones phone or old school portable recorders.

20% due to being the default rather than through choice for most I would wager.

Voice commands are very close to actually being useful day-to-day, but not quite there yet other than for basic hands-free duties. The Kiwi accent doesn't help although recognition is bounds better than it was a couple of years ago.

@KnightNZ

Michaelfjs

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#1348368 21-Jul-2015 14:17

It would be useful for a HTPC, being able to sit down and say, "Cortana, play Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse on Netflix" and have it start playing would be pretty awesome.

I've been using Cortana on my phone (Windows Phone 8, just switched the region to UK), and found many features quite useful, i.e sending a text, asking about the weather, how long it will take to get home etc. Voice recognition gets it right about 90% of the time, which is pretty good considering it's not officially support for the Kiwi accent yet.

Of course I'm not going to start talking to my PC at work.

Michaelfjs

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#1348370 21-Jul-2015 14:20

stevenz:

20% due to being the default rather than through choice for most I would wager.

I would be interested to know why you consider Google a superior choice to Bing?

qyiet

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#1350563 23-Jul-2015 16:10

Blurtie: Apart from the novelty factor, do people actually use their personal assistant on their phones daily.

I have a lumia 1520 and use Cortana mostly to set reminders, and to deal with SMSs while driving (over Bluetooth).

Frequent commands

"Cortana remind me to <do XYZ> when I get to <work/home/jane doe's place>"
"Cortana remind me to check on dinner in 10 min"
"Cortana remind me to got to the warrant of fitness place tomorrow at lunchtime"

You have a new message from ABC do you want to read it or ignore it?
"Read it"
<message> Do you wish to reply or are you done?
"I'm done"

I also have an xbox one that I use voice commands with. Mostly

"Xbox go to Netflix"
"Xbox Pause" <gets beer> "Xbox Play"

I also just got my hands on an amazon echo (which I must say has the lowest miss rate of any voice recognition software I've used yet) I'm still it the new toy phase with it. The best miss so far was "Play Radio New Zealand National" became "Play reggae barbeque" which is apparently a subgenre.

Warning: reality may differ from above post

BlueShift

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#1350592 23-Jul-2015 16:41

qyiet:
I also have an xbox one that I use voice commands with. Mostly "Xbox go to Netflix"
"Xbox Pause" <gets beer> "Xbox Play"

Had to re-read that bit - it got my hopes up thinking that Cortana could make your X-Box get you a beer!

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qyiet

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#1350596 23-Jul-2015 16:43

BlueShift:
Had to re-read that bit - it got my hopes up thinking that Cortana could make your X-Box get you a beer!

This is a home automation problem that must be solved!!

Warning: reality may differ from above post

MikeB4

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#1350609 23-Jul-2015 16:49

BlueShift:
qyiet:
I also have an xbox one that I use voice commands with. Mostly "Xbox go to Netflix"
"Xbox Pause" <gets beer> "Xbox Play"

Had to re-read that bit - it got my hopes up thinking that Cortana could make your X-Box get you a beer!

She will tell you a joke and sing you a song while trying to get beer :P

dwknight

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#1350610 23-Jul-2015 16:49

Jaxson:
MikeB4:
I don't know if it is my hearing but Siri's Kiwi accent on my iPhone does not sound Kiwi to me.

As far as I know it doesn't change the spoken side of things, just the understanding of the voice input.

The female version of Siri in iOS 8 is still Australian (for some reason). If you switch it to male you will find it sounds very Kiwi!
Currently in the iOS 9 beta there are only Australian, British and US voices, so not sure if female Kiwi Siri is on the way or not.

ramboky

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#1355355 30-Jul-2015 14:56

nathan: NZ is not rolling out at the same time as AU

Cortana relies on Bing. bing in NZ is in beta, but it is being worked on, I just can't disclose when sorry

You said pretty much the exact same thing almost eight months ago:

nathan:
We need Bing working fully in NZ for Cortana to function as you want.

Its been worked on. I cant disclose the dates sorry, but we know how important this is.

And more important in 2015 with Windows 10 launching

Are we likely to see anything this year?

nathan

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#1355359 30-Jul-2015 15:01

ramboky:
nathan: NZ is not rolling out at the same time as AU

Cortana relies on Bing. bing in NZ is in beta, but it is being worked on, I just can't disclose when sorry

You said pretty much the exact same thing almost eight months ago:

nathan:
We need Bing working fully in NZ for Cortana to function as you want.

Its been worked on. I cant disclose the dates sorry, but we know how important this is.

And more important in 2015 with Windows 10 launching

Are we likely to see anything this year?

I can't say sorry :|

ramboky

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#1355387 30-Jul-2015 15:40

nathan: I can't say sorry :|

No worries, it was worth asking and thanks for replying!

With no public commitment, or even a vague hint at a broad ETA, I think it's a pretty safe bet to assume Cortana support for New Zealand is at least 12 months out. It's a shame because by the time it arrives it will have lost a lot of the impact it would have had if it was delivered close to the Windows 10 release.

Dreal

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#1355468 30-Jul-2015 19:25

As I understand it, you can use cortana or search to do things like which off bluetooth, or run a specific program. Being able to for example, put on a playlist of music by voice would be very cool.

I think it's going to be a step up from Siri, something else.

Also, anything you do with cortana, can be done with text, unlike siri.

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Dreal

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#1355477 30-Jul-2015 19:35

I'm disappointed Cortana won't be working for awhile. I'm generally very keen for windows 10, and whilst I think things like siri are dull, it looked like cortana was miles ahead - and also the only text/voice assistant on a desktop platform/

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