Following today's official unveiling of Cortana, the new personal digital assistant for Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft has posted a live demo of the functionality.
During the demonstration, Windows Phone Vice President Joe Belfiore shows off the sleek Windows Phone 8.1 Start Screen and introduces us to Cortana. Inspired by the AI character in Halo, and powered by Bing, Cortana is the considered the "world's first truly personal digital assistant." Much of Cortana's functionality is similar to that of iPhone's Siri; she helps manage your basic phone functions, like setting appointments and reminders, performing searching, playing music, and setting "quiet hours." Unlike other digital assistants, Cortana will actually learn from your questions and remember specific things about you. She even has the capability to recognize follow-up questions and answer them appropriately, creating a more personal feeling when interacting.
Cortana will be available as a beta "soon" in the United States. It will launch in the U.S., UK, and China in the second half of 2014, with other countries to follow in 2015.
