nightmarish robot dog<\/a> lords of the future, and Apple has been pushing it watch on an underwhelmed world, has Amazon crept in the back door and won the battle of the personal assistants?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It’s personal<\/h2>\nSiri<\/h3>\n
Back in 2010 Apple bought SIRI (Speech Interpretation Recognition Interface) – an app that worked as a voice activated personal assistant and knowledge navigator – from developers Siri Inc. so it could integrate the feature in its future iOs platforms to give its hardware a more personal touch.<\/p>\n
Siri was introduced as an iPhone 4s feature on its release in 2011 and has been an integral part of iOs since iOs5. Siri is\u00a0also a key part of Apple Watch’s watchOs and Apple TV’s tvOs, and has subsequently been included on all mobile Apple hardware manufactured since October 2012.<\/p>\n
Although most of us just ask Siri silly questions to see what answer comes back – “Siri, can you beatbox?” is always a good one to ask – her\u00a0real purpose is as a voice-controlled personal assistant that can help you with everything from making a dinner reservation to sending a message.<\/p>\n
You can ask her questions, tell her to show you something or give\u00a0her with commands which she’ll carry out for you, completely hands-free.<\/p>\n
Cortana<\/h3>\n
Microsoft was a little slow on the uptake when it came to introducing the world to its own personal assistant \u00a0– the slightly clunky-sounding Cortana – unveiling her to the world at 2014’s Microsoft BUILD Developer Conference.<\/p>\n
Named after a synthetic intellingence character from Microsoft’s Halo video game franchise, Cortana\u00a0was launched as a key part of the company’s\u00a0planned makeover of all its future operating systems for Windows and Windows Phone.<\/p>\n
And she works in much the same way as Siri – you can ask Cortana pretty much anything, from jokes to the latest news updates, and she will also sync with your calendar to set reminders for key dates should you need them.<\/p>\n