Microsoft highlights lack of new Siri features to promote Cortana in new ad

Posted:
in iPhone edited November 2014
Microsoft on Friday released a short ad bashing lack of enhancing Siri when it released the latest iPhone 6 models, expectedly touting Windows Phone-based Cortana virtual assistant technology.




Like a commercial aired in July, the short 30-second spot shows Cortana and Siri, apparently pals at this point, chit chatting about the new iPhone 6.

"Hi Siri, looks like you're in a new phone. Congratulations," Cortana says. Siri responds, "Yes, I got bigger," in speech noticeably more stilted than Microsoft's personal assistant.

Cortana is curious as to whether Siri was granted enhanced functionality with her new home, asking "are you more like me now?" Does Siri schedule reminders based on calls and texts or adjust for time using traffic report data?

Siri, in deadpan monotone, repeats that "she just got bigger," a jab at Apple's new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus sizes.

"That's OK, happens to everyone this time of year," Cortana quips, referring to the holiday season.



The dialogue is obviously staged, as neither Cortana or Siri are advanced enough to carry on basic conversations beyond programmed responses, but Microsoft's portrayal is unsurprisingly less forgiving of Apple's digital assistant than its own solution.

Today's ad is the latest in a string of aggressive commercials targeting Apple's popular iOS device business. Microsoft first went after Siri earlier this year when it promoted Windows 8 tablet capabilities in an ad titled "Less talking, more doing." With Cortana now a tentpole Windows Phone feature, it seems Microsoft no longer adheres to that mantra.
«134

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 70
    Heh. How the tables have turned.
  • Reply 2 of 70

    The fools in Redmond don't seem to understand that a new Cortana bullet-point is NOT a selling-point. 

     

    What's next?

     

    Lumia . . . er . . . Windows Phone . . .  er . . .  Microsoft Phone(?) KILLER FEATURES:

     

    - They turn on

    - Speakers

    - Can make calls

     

    Only a matter of time before MS axes this dead platform completely. But, Zune-like, they love to prolong the bleeding. It was already too late at the close of Windows Phone's first year on the market. THAT was their window of opportunity. In current market dynamics, that's all you've got. It's just a black hole now that swallows marketing dollars. 

  • Reply 3 of 70
    I actually have to give it to Microsoft on this one... at least insofar as the advertisement. Its pretty effective, even made me giggle and I love Siri. I have no doubt however that when Siri is updated next it will be a major update that blows all the competition out of the water in the same way the very launch of Siri did. Also, this further illustrates that Apple is in a league of their own. Both Microsoft and Pretty much every Android manufacture continue to aim 100% of their advertising at more successful Apple products. Meanwhile Apple keeps running advertisements highlighting the best features of their products... ignoring the noise from competitors entirely. I believe the next major Siri update will come with the launch of Apple Watch. In either case, Cortana wouldn't even exist without Apple.
  • Reply 4 of 70
    quadra 610 wrote: »
    The fools in Redmond don't seem to understand that a new Cortana bullet-point is NOT a selling-point. 

    Only a matter of time before MS axes this dead platform completely. But, Zune-like, they love to prolong the bleeding. It was already too late at the close of Windows Phone's first year on the market. THAT was their window of opportunity. In current market dynamics, that's all you've got. It's just a black hole now that swallows marketing dollars. 

    Yeah, I remember Microslut's first phone after the iPhone. Was it the Kin... or was it the Windows 7 phone... one they buried in a landfill and the other they stopped upgrading before a year was out.

    pigybank wrote: »
    I have no doubt however that when Siri is updated next it will be a major update that blows all the competition out of the water in the same way the very launch of Siri did.

    I thought Apple opened Siri up to 3rd-party developers to access... but anyway I have not forgotten the demo Apple did over a year ago that offered more life-like female voices for Siri... WTF ever happened to that!!?
  • Reply 5 of 70
    Really, let's list Siri features and then have her say she's just bigger? By the way, the days of who's got the best virtual assistant are over.
  • Reply 6 of 70
    Keep spreading it on, Nutella.

    Voice isn't the future, unless you're blind.
  • Reply 7 of 70
    I thought Siri was much improved in iOS 8 but after the last update it's really FUBAR. No longer respends to "Hey Siri," and when I manually woke him up to ask "What are your new features?" the reply was "Here's what I can do now:" And that was it. :\
  • Reply 8 of 70
    leighrleighr Posts: 253member
    But voice recognition on phones is just a gimmick that no one will actually use - according to Microsoft, when Siri was announced. Oh, that's right, if a Microsoft device doesn't have a feature, then that feature is rubbish, until they can copy that feature, and then it's really cool, and then they explain that they were the first ones to come out with this amazing new feature.
  • Reply 9 of 70
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    Why are we even talking about a company with <2% of the mobile market?
  • Reply 10 of 70
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post

    Why are we even talking about a company with <2% of the mobile market?

     

    I was just looking for usable image emoji to use in Photoshop. This comparison is surprisingly relevant.

  • Reply 11 of 70
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,153member
    Ah, the Bactrian Camel.
    http://emojipedia.org/bactrian-camel/

    Excellent fit. ;)

    OOPS, Dromedary.
    http://www.emojibase.com/emojilist/camel

    When I was a kid I used ti get my Camels and Lucky Strikes mixed up too,
  • Reply 12 of 70
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by andyapple View Post



    I thought Siri was much improved in iOS 8 but after the last update it's really FUBAR. No longer respends to "Hey Siri," and when I manually woke him up to ask "What are your new features?" the reply was "Here's what I can do now:" And that was it. image



    Him? Siri is a she. Beautiful woman who leads you to victory, remember? 8-)

     

    Siri works fine for me, I rarely if ever have problems. I wish she was a bit faster on LTE but other than that, no complaints. Use her all the time, especially for the Shazam integration.

     

    On a side note, them putting Shazam into Siri has gotten me to buy a ton of songs now that I know what the ones on the radio are.

  • Reply 13 of 70
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Macky the Macky View Post



    I thought Apple opened Siri up to 3rd-party developers to access... but anyway I have not forgotten the demo Apple did over a year ago that offered more life-like female voices for Siri... WTF ever happened to that!!?

     

    iOS 7 introduced a higher fidelity voice to siri here in the US. 

  • Reply 14 of 70
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    I use Siri almost every day but haven't heard a voice in a long time, except for in car. Surprised more people don't turn it off, the monotone annoys the piss out of me.
  • Reply 15 of 70
    dsddsd Posts: 186member

    image

     

    iPhone is doomed!

  • Reply 16 of 70
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,312member
    This is pathetic even for Microsoft. They are poking Apple in the eye for not investing more into Siri in iOS 8. Really?

    Hmmm. If we're going to start poking the competition based on what they aren't doing let's start with Microsoft's foray into the smartphone market and ask them why they aren't:

    - making a profit in the smartphone business
    - gaining market share in the smartphone business
    - adding significant numbers of first rate apps to their App Store
    - coming up with any original product ideas that haven't already been done by Apple and/or Google
    - proving stable and secure employment opportunities for current employees

    C'mon Microsoft, there was a time when you could rest on your own accomplishments and lead by example in the software industry. Now you've been reduced to nit picking the competition for not completely annihilating the competition, which you barely qualify as being. That's your best card to play? Whomever is disgracing Microsoft with these grade school level ads should be added to the next huge wave of Microsoft layoffs.
  • Reply 17 of 70

    <Cortana> "DAMN YOU SIRI!!!! I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!!!!"

    <Siri> "Ok Kray Kray"

  • Reply 18 of 70
    swiftswift Posts: 436member

    I've never heard Siri sound that robot-like. 

     

    And what she does I find very useful, and I've gotten to figure out how to get the right answers. It's great to dictate posts and e-mails. Oh, Cortana will tell you when there's a traffic slowdown? Well, I don't care. Maps shows you traffic warnings, and Siri isn't involved there. 

     

    Today, I asked her where the closest x store was on my way to work. She reminded me of one a few blocks away. I hit the map she showed me and used Maps for directions. Then I asked her to "open podcasts" and she did, and I went the rest of the way listening to Leo Laporte. 

     

    Dummying up a few gratuitous examples of where your robot may be made to look better is easy as pie. A good ad man could do twenty commercials, even a hundred, where your computer is personified by a smug, portly gentleman, and our computer is personified by a young, handsome dude, and demonstrate the superiority of the young, handsome computer over your fat arrogant one. Tricks of the trade.

  • Reply 19 of 70
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,066member

    the agency working for microsoft has put their c-team on the account and is laughing all the way to the bank.

  • Reply 20 of 70
    I carry both an iPhone and a Windows Phone everyday, and I think some in these comments are letting their loyalties to Apple blind them.

    Siri was amazing when it first came out, but slowly the gimmick wore off and I used it less & less.

    Cortana, on the other hand, does a lot more than Siri and keeps getting improvements (its technically still in beta).

    I agree that these commercial are silly, but only because the two are not even comparable. Cortana is that much better.

    While Siri is a voice assistant, Cortana is more of a personal assistant. If you're familiar with the advantages of Google Now, the best explanation of Cortana would be the cognitive usefulness of Google Now mixed with the personality of Siri.

    It's just much more than a voice on your phone, for most of Cortana's advantages you don't even need to use the voice features.
Sign In or Register to comment.