Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cortana available on iOS and Android

blogs.windows.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 144 posts

Re: Cortana available on iOS and Android

#121

Post by voltagex_ »

probably_wrong wrote: post #10

I want to like Cortana, I really do. Unfortunately, it's linked to my phone's default language. So even though I could speak English, Cortana will not talk to me because my phone's interface is in Spanish. That is something I can understand - maybe there are development reasons why second language voice recognition is not possible. However, every time I update my OS, Cortana is added to my main screen again, perhaps…

Microsoft region-lock languages on the Xbox, too.

https://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/253802-home-settings/sugge...

Re: Cortana available on iOS and Android

#122

Post by arca_vorago »

[deleted] wrote: post #120
arca_vorago wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They have lost the right to manage software, so we the creators, will manage it for them - on a perpetual plan." I hope we drive creators like this out of business. You don't get to make decisions like that about the user and if you do you should be punished in your wallet and with public denunciation. This is the reason RMS was and is right about GPL. I am increasingly convinced that people need to start open-sourc…

[deleted]

"No, people choose my software over the others, over the free, yet they steal access to it ... because they can."

I think if you really took the time to analysis this situation an honest conclusion would be different than this. Personally I think the future model is going to be FOSS with upfront cost and you get source when you pay, or FOSS and service and support when you pay. FOSS is the future either way. I would like to emphasize since you seem to misunderstand some fundamental principles, that the F in FOSS stands for free as in speech, not as in beer. Of course us Americans value free speech more than most so it could also be a cultural difference.

Re: Cortana available on iOS and Android

#123

Post by mikeash »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #96
danpeddle wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sigh, that's sad. It baffles me that there are still so many services that try to 'automagically' intuit which language someone wants to have a service in, instead of just simply .. asking. Google play is a prime culprit, for example, showing a mixture of language content on the play store. See also subtitles, dubbed content, books.. Another one - Sony's Playstation store, where if you choose a country, then the lang…

> It baffles me that there are still so many services that try to 'automagically' intuit which language someone wants to have a service in, instead of just simply .. asking. Well, because they should and rightfully so. You shouldn't have to select a language every time you start an app. Instead it should use whatever language was set on your system. Anything else just isn't intuitive and would add more friction befor…

Localization is all about edge cases, though. If you ignore edge cases, you'll ignore most world languages, after all.

By all means, make a guess at what language to use, but always allow the user to choose in case you guess wrong.

Re: Cortana available on iOS and Android

#124

Post by lovemenot »

dave5104 wrote: post #35
danpeddle wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sigh, that's sad. It baffles me that there are still so many services that try to 'automagically' intuit which language someone wants to have a service in, instead of just simply .. asking. Google play is a prime culprit, for example, showing a mixture of language content on the play store. See also subtitles, dubbed content, books.. Another one - Sony's Playstation store, where if you choose a country, then the lang…

I don't think there's a problem with automagically inferring the language. It sounds like the problem lies in not being able to override that decision.

The route to revert language must be clear though, even when the UI is in a foreign language.

This can be trickier than it sounds. For instance, selecting English from a Japanese UI should be "English" not 英語. Conversely, from English to select Japanese has to be 日本語　not "Japanese".

Re: Cortana available on iOS and Android

#125

Post by [deleted] »

arca_vorago wrote: post #122
[deleted] wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

"No, people choose my software over the others, over the free, yet they steal access to it ... because they can." I think if you really took the time to analysis this situation an honest conclusion would be different than this. Personally I think the future model is going to be FOSS with upfront cost and you get source when you pay, or FOSS and service and support when you pay. FOSS is the future either way. I would…

[deleted]

Re: Cortana available on iOS and Android

#130

Post by ArcticCelt »

rpgmaker wrote: post #66
probably_wrong wrote: post #10

I want to like Cortana, I really do. Unfortunately, it's linked to my phone's default language. So even though I could speak English, Cortana will not talk to me because my phone's interface is in Spanish. That is something I can understand - maybe there are development reasons why second language voice recognition is not possible. However, every time I update my OS, Cortana is added to my main screen again, perhaps…

Google navigation is the best example of this. Because of aesthetics I keep my phone in English even though I live in a Spanish speaking country. It's ok for Navigation to assume my language to be English but they should offer the option of changing it. The English voice completely mangles the Spanish street names and makes directions difficult to follow at times. It really isn't difficult for Google to just offer th…

Same situation but for french, I live in Quebec. Earlier today I was trying the voice detection to say a direction, I tried to say the street name in the normal french accent, I tried to tell it in a mangled English accent, I tried to read it literally as if it was an English word. Nothing to do, Google directions was making ridiculous interpretations of what I was saying or sending me to locations on other continents. :/
Post reply on HN