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Video: Cortana trolls Siri in new TV commercial

Published Jul 28th, 2014 4:24PM EDT
Cortana vs Siri TV Commercial

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Microsoft has a new TV commercial for its Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana assistant in which it’s taking new shots at one of its biggest competitors, Apple’s voice-based assistant Siri. The new ad, titled “Happy Anniversary,” shows a smartphone user issuing certain commands to an iPhone 5s (Siri) and a Lumia 635 (Cortana), with only the latter able to recognize them and deliver appropriate responses.

FROM EARLIER: How Microsoft plans to give Cortana more brain power than anything Siri can muster

Microsoft is basically advertising Cortana’s context-aware algorithm, which will let a Windows Phone user set up a reminder based on a certain type of command that uses various elements, including location and/or the user’s relationship with a person.

Interestingly, while Google’s Google Now assistant can offer plenty of context-aware actions and automated responses, Microsoft chose to take hits only at Siri in this new commercial, and, indirectly at the iPhone 5s, a hot-seller despite being an “old” device.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft is making fun of Siri with Cortana, as the company released several Cortana-related videos in the past, including ones that took hits at the competition.

The short 30-second ad showing Cortana outperforming Siri follows below.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.