Cortana, Superstar of Windows Phone 8.1 Family

It was the 10th Birthday of Microsoft's Channel 9. It was the first big event of Satya Nadella after becoming the CEO.

And I think this is the right time to provide a challenge to the Mobile Market. Microsoft realizes mobile moves faster than the traditional desktop world it is accustomed to and asking the industry to wait for Windows 9 and Windows Phone 9 is simply not an option.

These are the updates of Microsoft bldwin 2014 Conference.

In some new announcements during the build 2014 conference, Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8.1. with a personal digital assistant named Cortana, a new Action Center, as well as support for customizable lock screens and backgrounds.

Here a new word has been created, Cortana. BTW, Cortana sounds awesome .. ;)

"Hi, I'm Cortana." Microsoft launches its answer to Siri.

In Tweeter someone says:

"Cortana's fun when she's drinking, but you haven't seen nothing until you've seen Siri with a few margaritas inside her. That girl is a riot!" Hahaha

Cortana, Microsoft's answer to Google Now and Apple's Siri, completely replaces the search function on Windows Phone, that makes sense since she is powered by Bing. Launching her takes you straight to a list of personal suggestions based on how you use your device. Microsoft is launching it's beta now and features a Notebook that is essentially the settings page for choosing what exactly the personal assistant should keep track of. If you've ever used Google Now, it's very similar to the “magic wand” page.

Windows Phone 8.1 also allows users to take advantage of more tiles, should they wish to have more on the home screen. The new “high density” layout is configured under settings, inside the "Start+Theme" area. You can help her by defining that people are in your inner circle.

This works with the new Quiet Hours feature, that lets you control who is able to call you during your down time. (TheNextWeb)

Cortana can be given permission to read through your emails and track calendar events, flights and travel plans and present them to you in the Cortana app. Of course, Cortana can be communicated with via voice commands, just like the iOS Siri and Google Now, but it is also capable of understanding complex written commands.

One special feature of Cortana is "People Reminders". You can ask Cortana to remind you to mention something when you next speak to someone, whether that be by text, voice call or any other communication form. It's important to remember that Cortana is initially being launched in beta, just so Microsoft can work out the bugs and glitches. It sounds like the voice assistant will only be available in the US to begin with, but the UK will receive it soon.

"As it stands Cortana sounds very promising despite one or two hiccups during the presentation, that Microsoft has attributed to it being in beta, but hopefully as Microsoft starts ironing out the kinks, we will definitely see how Cortana has the ability to become a voice assistant feature that could give Siri and Google Now a run for their money." (ubergizmo Says)

Here we can say, with Windows Phone 8.1 Microsoft is really beginnig to deliver on the promise of its platform. Look for Windows Phone 8.1 to start rolling out to current Windows Phone 8 users "in the next few months," or in new phones by the end of April or early May.