Cortana receives service update with Bing predictions

Microsoft is pushing out a new service update to its virtual digital assistant Cortana that will give Windows Phone 8.1 users access to predictions generated by the company’s Bing search service.

The Group Program Manager for Cortana on Windows Phone, Marcus Ash announced this new service update over his Twitter account this afternoon. He also shared a screenshot of Cortana predicting outcome of Belgium vs Unites States game.

Microsoft recently started using Bing’s search engine as a way to predict results by analyzing different signals including search queries and social input from Facebook and Twitter. The experiment started with attempts to predict which contestants are most likely to be eliminated or move on to the next round of voting on reality TV shows. And in next stage it added predictions for the World Cup earlier this month.

“On the heels of our recent foray into predictions, where we forecasted which contestants were most likely to get voted off or win The Voice, Dancing With the Stars, and American Idol, we are taking the experiment a step further applying it to the World Cup. Starting today, if you search for “World Cup Predictions”, or any group matches (both preliminary as well as later in the single elimination rounds) we will display the chances of each respective team to win.”

With this latest update users can now ask Cortana its predictions about ongoing World Cup football matches. As this is server side update you should notice the feature automatically appear on your Windows Phone 8.1 device, without the requirement of a software update.


source - Microsoft (Twitter)