A few days ago, the Internet was buzzing with rumors that Microsoft was working on a digital assistant competitor to Siri and Google Now, using the codename "Cortana." Now there"s a new grass roots movement that wants the company to keep the "Cortana" name for the project.
"Cortana" is best known as the A.I. companion to Master Chief in Microsoft"s hit Halo game series, which certainly makes it an appropriate working title for such an effort. However, software codenames are often changed upon release.
The effort started out as a topic on the official Windows Phone support forums, and has generated over 20,000 votes over the past few days even though Microsoft has yet to officially confirm that it"s working on the project.
The thread has also generated over 500 comments, most of which are supportive of Microsoft using the "Cortana" name in this context. Some of the more recent posts are like this one from "Quicksilverr" who wrote, "Cortana is the best possible name for an AI. She has guided us all on the Halo games and now she can guide us on our phones."
In addition, many of the comment posters want Jen Taylor, who has been the voice of Cortana since the first Halo game was released in 2001, to also voice for the digital assistant.
Thanks to SiLeNtDeAtH for the tip via our forums!
Source: Windows Phone support forum | Image via Microsoft