A Quick Leak, As Microsoft Tests the Waters For Cortana On Android

An anonymous reader writes with the news from Venture Beat that a beta of Cortana for Android (long promised) has leaked into the wild via Finnish upload site SuomiMobiili, and from there to others, like APKMirror. From the article: We asked Microsoft where this leak may have come from. "In the spirit of the Windows Insider Program, we're testing the Cortana for Android beta with a limited number of users in the U.S. and China before releasing the beta publicly in the next few weeks," a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat.

Comments

Cortana?

[TechyImmigrant]

It's ok summary writer person. You don't need to put in any effort to explain what Cortana is or why we might care.

Re:Cortana?

[Strudelkugel]

It's possible that phone apps are the punch cards of the future. Most apps require a network connection. What if there is a better way to launch and manage them via Cortana and they run on a cloud system, turning your phone into smart terminal? Then you won't care what OS a phone running as long as it can render the information you want. Maybe Microsoft is now thinking "The Network Is The Computer" as Sun did years ago. The approach might work, it might not, but that would be a reason to get Cortana on as many platforms as possible.

Re:Cortana?

[Simon Brooke]

The nature of mobile devices is that the data connection is of varying quality and reliability, and in some places either slow, intermittent, or non-existent. Relying on apps in the cloud means that your device is fundamentally a brick whenever you go into an underpass or a basement or into mountains and forests. Of course, if you live your whole life in urban areas this may not matter, but for many people it does. Not that this is a criticism of Cortana, or of Microsoft. Google's and Apple's voice services are cloud-backed as well. But for 'the network is the computer' to work, the network has to be ubiquitous and immanent, and for mobile devices it isn't.

Stop calling these leaks

[BringMyShuttle]

If it really was a leak Microsoft would call the FBI. This is just PR:

Leak n. a synonym for a public relations announcement, dressed to sound more exciting, but which by insulting the target audience's intelligence ends up irritating rather than fooling them

Re:Stop calling these leaks

[DaHat]

I would think there are degrees of leak, some might involve the FBI... others like this case would seem to be a case of "things went public earlier than we wanted but are not going to involve law enforcement"

Of course

[penguinoid]

I want both Google and Microsoft to know every aspect of my life.

Re:Of course

[LessThanObvious]

It's better to have your choice of voice interactive overloads with which to share every aspect of your life.

Re:Of course

[fizzer06]

They can always ask Facebook about you.

Re:Of course

[DaHat]

So what steps are you taking from keeping Apple, Google, the NSA or some other large org from knowing every aspect of your life?

Re:Of course

[penguinoid]

I installed an addon to erase the evil redirect links google added to their searches (also means I get to results faster). I installed adblock to block some marketing gunk which also has privacy and security implications, besides once again improving my browsing. I installed a blocker for that little thing on websites that tells Facebook where I've been. A few other such things, too.

Re:Of course

[hackwrench]

I know you are being sarcastic, but maybe you really should.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=m...

Microsoft must have hired someone in marketing fro

[hilather]

Clearly it was on purpose.

People use this?

[ArchieBunker]

Not once have I ever witnessed a person walking down the street and ask their phone a question.

Re: People use this?

[bondsbw]

It could be useful in any context where voice control is preferred over touch, like to set a reminder or get information while driving.

Re:People use this?

[Anonymous Coward]

I did last night. A girl was asking her iPhone when does the Coldstone creamery which was on the other side of the street closes. I didn't wait to hear what Siri was going to burp up, just told her to move a little faster instead of wasting time talking to a computer and she'll catch it.

Capcha: tacitly

Re:People use this?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's way faster than typing on a touchscreen keyboard. The voice recognition is pretty good, too.

Re:People use this?

[Actually, I do RTFA]

I've taught older relatives how to tell a destination to their phone for GPS guidance. Until I tried that when I saw they could barely type, I didn't think it would work because I've never seen anyone use that feature. Then again, GPS navigation is the one thing that, because for some reason I cannot download local maps, they track you using regardless.

Re:People use this?

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Not once have I ever witnessed a person walking down the street and ask their phone a question.

I ask Siri questions all the time, "Where's the nearest coffee shop", "What time is this movie playing?", "What time does a particular place close?" , "What's the phone # for this particular business?" I go stand in a vacant doorway while I do it so I'm not blocking foot or bike traffic. If I exist, others do, too.

Maybe people are a good deal more polite than you give them credit for.

Re:Yawn

[DaHat]

How old are you? 12? 13? You clearly have a rather limited memory of history with comments like:

What could Microsoft's shitty "late to the game" voice recognition add over the existing solutions?

Or should we forget that Android is actually (still) the newcomer to the modern world of smartphones? I seem to recall Blackberry, iOS and Windows Mobile/Phone/Mobile existing well before Android... clearly in your world Android has nothing to offer over the existing solutions!

Whatever ideas from another platform could ever influence ones own platform of choice, purity above all else must be enforced eh?>

Re:Yawn

[hackwrench]

Phone OS's aren't speech recognition. That being said, Microsoft has had limited speech recognition for its desktop for quite awhile.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=m...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The company's research eventually ultimately led to the development of the Speech API, introduced in 1994

Re:Yawn

[Actually, I do RTFA]

What could Microsoft's shitty "late to the game" voice recognition add over the existing solutions?

MS's V 5.1 voice recognition was shipped with XP (sp2). V8 came with Vista. Both were pretty good, and thye was client based, not cloud based.

Re: Yawn

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Lol. Shut up you fucking nerd cunt. I can smell your cheetohs breath from here.

I would just like to point out that this remark was posted late on a Friday night.

Re: Yawn

[Anonymous Coward]

On a nerd site no less. I think he's smelling his own cheetohs laced virginity.

people (like me) ask smartphone questions often

[KWTm]

Not once have I ever witnessed a person walking down the street and ask their phone a question.

I have never done that, but it's mainly because I tend to drive more than walk, so I agree with parent in addressing GP's point. In the car, I ask questions of my phone all the time, and it's not even Siri; it's an Android device that a snagged for less than US$70 (HTC MyTouch). Often when my kid asks a question, like "Daddy, when did Pompeii get buried?", we seize the moment and find out right away rather than waiting to look it up when we get home. I firmly believe that this ability to get information on the spot (which you couldn't do if you had to type in the web query on the smartphone) accelerates the development and intelligence of society as a collective organism. In other words, it's good for everybody.

Disclaimer: I still don't know what Cortana is, and I still plan to get the Neo900 when it comes out.

Re: I'm not having a Microsoft account

[brilanon]

will you please stop hyping crappy scientology chess game machine "artificial intelligences" that for starters lack any internal process akin to thought... only saying... nah...