Microsoft announces Cortana smartphone voice search

Microsoft exec Joe Belfiore announces Cortana, a new digital personal assistant function for Windows phones.(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft on Wednesday announced new features for Windows Phone, including a widely anticipated Siri- and Google Now-like voice assistant called Cortana.

Among other things, the Windows Phone 8.1 update brings a central hub for notifications for text messages, incoming e-mail and the like, similar to what you find on Android and Apple devices. Microsoft also announced new features for the Start Screen and a personalized lock screen.

The big news is Cortana, named for a character in the popular Halo video game. It is powered by Microsoft's Bing search engine and essentially replaces the search function on a Windows Phone smartphone.

You can use the feature, which is launching in its beta, or test phase, to make phone calls, send texts, take a note or give you a reminder.

Cortana has a notebook. You can store your interests, places you frequent, calendar, relationships with friends, family and colleagues and your "quiet hours." So for instance, during your quiet hours you can let certain calls come through.

The more you use the search function the more Cortana learns about you, by asking you if you want her to store it. Yes, Cortana has a female voice. And "she" is shaped like a circle.

Microsoft executive Joe Belfiore also said there will be third-party apps that can extend Cortana functionality, including one for Facebook.

The Windows Phone 8.1 update starts rolling out to consumers who currently own Windows Phones in the next few months. It will be available on brand-new phones as soon as late April or early May, Belfiore said.

The keynote kicked off with Windows Phone, but Microsoft also previewed upcoming Windows updates.

Of consumer interest, Microsoft announced an update to touch-friendly Windows that will add features to make it more comfortable to use for people who prefer more traditional mouse-and-keyboard computing.

Those new features, including some new right-click functions and additions to the task bar, will be available as of Tuesday to owners of Windows 8 PCs, Belfiore said.

Company executives also outlined ways in which it will make it easier for software developers to create applications that will work across all Microsoft devices.

In a question-and-answer format late in the morning event, new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called the day's announcements a "massive milestone" for the company.

Microsoft's Build conference is aimed at the thousands of developers who create applications for its products. One of Microsoft's major themes going forward is its vision for unifying Windows across phones, tablets, PCs and even its Xbox video game console.

IDC research analyst Al Hilwa says the announcements Wednesday "brought a lot of things together for Microsoft and really shows the new approach they are taking."

For developers, bringing phone and tablet platforms closer together "makes it easier to write new apps. ... In fact, the same apps can be extended to the TV with Xbox, making it unique in the industry to address all three form factors."

All in all, he said, there were "a ton of new announcements across all parts of Microsoft. Much more consolidated under a single structure than ever before."

Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research, noted that overall Microsoft's announcements "ranged from the familiar to the reactionary." But he noted that the company's quest to offer "'Windows everywhere" will allow Microsoft to use its popularity on the desktop to help drive apps for its phones

Also at the event, handset-maker Nokia — which Microsoft is acquiring in a $7 billion deal expected to close this month — unveiled three new handsets coming for Windows Phone 8.1.

The Nokia Lumia 930 is a new flagship coming to foreign markets. It is similar to the Lumia 929 (also known as Icon) that launched recently in the U.S. on Verizon.

Nokia chief Stephen Elop also announced the Lumia 630 and 635, two entry-level phones that will arrive in the U.S. this summer.

Over the past year, Microsoft has touted the strides it has made with Windows Phone. It has increased market share and built up offerings in its app store. As of February, there were more than 240,000 apps, including recent mainstay additions such as Vine, Instagram and traffic and mapping app Waze.

Yet Windows Phone still trails Apple and Android market share by a wide margin even as it solidifies its spot in third place over BlackBerry. It ended 2013 with 90.9% growth for the year with shipments of 33.4 million units, according to researcher IDC. Android devices by a variety of manufacturers clocked 793.6 million, for 58.7% annual growth.

As part of the company's push to a "mobile-first, cloud-first" world, Nadella last week in San Francisco made his first public appearance as CEO to announce that the popular Office software suite would be available on Apple's iPad.

The highly anticipated move was seen as a breakthrough as Microsoft focuses on delivering services to businesses and consumers wherever they are. In the week since that announcement, the apps for Word, Excel and PowerPoint have risen to the top of the free download chart for iPad.

On Monday, Nadella named Elop to head Microsoft's Devices group as part of several executive moves aimed at getting its management structure aligned with the new multiplatform focus.

Investors so far like what they see in Nadella, who took over the CEO spot from Steve Ballmer in February. The company's stock has been trading around highs last seen in 2000.