After mocking the MacBook Air purposefully in its recently released Surface Pro 3 ad, Microsoft did it again on Friday as it released its latest ad that bashes Apple's Siri to highlight the functions of its own mobile digital assistant, Cortana. Microsoft claims that they have created a more functional mobile virtual assistant compared to the one produced by Apple. It reportedly offers the combined features of Siri and Android's Google Now to provide better assistance for smartphone users.
The 30-seconder ad shows the advantages of having Cortana in smartphones, which Siri does not have, including the software's capacity to remind the user of an important event based on an incoming text or call, as well as advanced traffic. Cortana can be used to send messages and make calls, while taking down notes, setting reminders, and helping find nearby restaurants simultaneously. It can also give users the title of a song heard in a bar or a record store. Compared to Siri that can only answer direct instructions, Cortana can understand more contextual orders. It will come out with the new Windows Phone 8.1 that will be released next month.
Siri, on the other hand, was made by the Cupertino-based company to assist iOS users with basic functions like scheduling meetings, offering weather forecasts, launching game and apps, as well as providing witty answers to rhetoric questions. It has superb voice recognition that answers to the inquiries and instructions of the Apple device users. But according to Microsoft's ad, the only improvement seen in Siri is its move to a bigger home in iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The new Cortana ad points out that it has better functions when placed side by side with Siri. Yet it is too early to tell if Microsoft's soon-to-be released Lumia smartphones featuring Cortana can fare better compared to Apple's iPhone product lines that have Siri, since the market will still have to test it once it reaches stores in the near future.
