????日前，微軟（Microsoft）推出了針對Windows Phone手機操作系統(tǒng)的數(shù)字助理服務(wù)Cortana,。它意味著,，今后人們購買新手機的時候，同時還需要決定,，希望由誰來幫助管理自己的生活？

????新推出的Cortana應(yīng)用直接與蘋果（Apple）的Siri以及谷歌（Google）的Google Now展開競爭,，爭奪規(guī)劃整理手機用戶的約會,、聯(lián)系人、旅行安排以及其它日常生活瑣事的機會,。微軟稱,，Cortana是“真正的個人數(shù)字助理”——這明顯是在諷刺Cortana之前的類似產(chǎn)品——能夠分析用戶的手機使用習(xí)慣，從而了解用戶對哪些話題感興趣,、什么時候比較忙,、去哪兒旅行等。

????Cortana能在每天清晨提供用戶感興趣的新聞報道摘要,。Cortana同真人版的個人助理一樣,，允許用戶設(shè)定“免打擾時間”。在此期間,，電話和短信都靜音,，只有少數(shù)“重要”聯(lián)系人能突破靜音限制,。Notebook功能使用戶能調(diào)整Cortana對用戶的了解，從而提供比Siri以及Google Now更精細的控制,。Cortana似乎還頗具幽默感,。假如你要求Cortana打開太空飛船的分離艙門，它會回答：戴夫,，我恐怕辦不到【戴夫是科幻電影《2001太空漫游》（2001: A Space Odyssey）中的人物】,。

????在許多方面，Cortana集Siri的語音搜索與谷歌Google Now的建議之大成于一身,，基于用戶所在的位置,、時間、約會安排等數(shù)據(jù)進行搜索和建議,。一部分早期評測稱,，Cortana之所以領(lǐng)先于蘋果和谷歌的服務(wù)，主要是靠抄襲后兩者各自最出色的功能,。Cortana能調(diào)整手機的設(shè)置,，比如是否連接到Wi-Fi等（Google Now就不行）。Cortana還能跟蹤航班的狀態(tài)（Siri只能給出相應(yīng)網(wǎng)頁）,。

????目前,，在美國還只有測試版的Cortana。

Cortana的競爭對手：Siri

????Siri可謂開創(chuàng)了數(shù)字助理之先河,。它起初是一家獨立公司推出的一款獨立應(yīng)用,，直到2010年被蘋果收購。一年后,，蘋果將Siri整合到了iOS中,，把它標榜為“智能助手”。號稱用戶只需開口,，這項服務(wù)就能將事情搞定,。隨著時間的推移，Siri已經(jīng)能更好地識別,、理解用戶的指令,，同時連接了蘋果生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中更多應(yīng)用程序。而Siri所缺乏的則是Google Now與Cortana都具有的個性化和數(shù)據(jù)收集功能,。

????Siri接入用戶的電子郵件,、聯(lián)系人和日歷，但它不會嘗試掌握用戶的所有情況,。弗雷斯特研究公司資深分析師托尼?科斯塔說：“某種程度上,，各家公司在個人數(shù)字助理領(lǐng)域的做法都反映了各自一貫的特點。谷歌的Google Now更像是搜索引擎——高效,、以任務(wù)為中心,，還會嘗試預(yù)測用戶的需求,。蘋果Siri更像是一個自然語言語音用戶界面。而Cortana則是具備了上述兩者的特點,?！?/p>

????IHS Global分析師丹尼爾?格里森表示，目前,，蘋果Siri的服務(wù)廣度不及谷歌和微軟,，而這是蘋果所擔(dān)心的問題。格里森說：“蘋果更依賴外部技術(shù),?！碧O果的“外援”包括來自Nuance的語音識別技術(shù)以及源自必應(yīng)（Bing）的搜索結(jié)果等?！肮雀鑴t是‘自力更生’,，而微軟研究語音識別已經(jīng)超過20年，還擁有自己的搜索引擎,?！?/p>

????格里森表示，盡管蘋果最早推出數(shù)字助理應(yīng)用,，但它如今突然淪為“追趕者”,。“ 我們可以看到,，谷歌和微軟都在這個一往直前,。很多人會說，Google Now和Cortana已經(jīng)比Siri有用得多,。蘋果確實需要解決這個問題,，否則就會落后，蘋果可不習(xí)慣當(dāng)?shù)絷牭娜??！?/p>

????Siri首創(chuàng)了手機語音控制和個人數(shù)據(jù)收集，但如今這已經(jīng)遠遠不夠,。為了提供真正流暢而個性化的體驗，數(shù)字助理需要盡可能多地了解用戶,，而在這一點上,，沒人做得比谷歌更好。

Cortana的競爭對手：Google Now

????Google Now直到2012年才亮相,，但它迅速成為谷歌Android操作系統(tǒng)的關(guān)鍵功能,。同Siri一樣，Google Now能通過語音激活和控制,，但與Siri 和Cortana不同的是,，語音在Google Now中并沒有占據(jù)中心地位,。相反，谷歌強調(diào)Google Now能預(yù)測用戶需要什么信息,，何時需要信息,。系統(tǒng)會掃描用戶的近期搜索、常規(guī)旅行線路和電子郵件,，以便獲取用戶可能想要馬上看到的信息,，比如用戶亞馬遜（Amazon）訂單的處理狀態(tài)、天氣,、用戶最喜歡的球隊的最新消息等,。總之,，Google Now不會等到用戶開口再行動,。

????同Siri一樣，Google Now用戶能要求手機“發(fā)送電子郵件”或“半小時后叫我起床”,，同時,，Google Now增加了基于用戶的搜索、活動以及其它數(shù)據(jù)給出的意見和推薦,。比如,，如果用戶每周一晚上都在健身房鍛煉，那么,，Google Now很快就會知道每周一恰好在這個時候發(fā)出指示,。Siri還做不到這一點，而Cortana正嘗試模仿這項功能,。

????微軟希望,，Cortana內(nèi)置的隱私控制功能能使它比無孔不入的Google Now對消費者更具吸引力。Notebook設(shè)置頁面讓用戶設(shè)定Cortana能查看哪些信息,，不能查看哪些信息,，這一點十分關(guān)鍵。對此,，IHS Global的格里森稱：“也許Google Now與Cortana的關(guān)鍵差別在于,，能否輕松控制顯示什么信息，以及Cortana有權(quán)限查看什么應(yīng)用,。微軟叫板谷歌的說辭就是：‘我們不會窺探您的隱私,。’兩家公司各自推出的個人數(shù)字助理服務(wù)也延續(xù)了兩者長期以來的這種差別,?！?/p>

????盡管Siri、Cortana以及Google Now三者有許多類似的功能（比如創(chuàng)建約會,、網(wǎng)上搜索等）,，三款服務(wù)其實存在根本性的區(qū)別：本質(zhì)上,，Siri為用戶提供了另一種與自己手機以及手機中部分應(yīng)用互動的方式。比如說,，Siri善于理解自然語言,、執(zhí)行用戶指示。Google Now和Cortana則增加了更為全面的一系列服務(wù),，同時還試圖模仿真人版助手的功能,。

????The arrival of Cortana, Microsoft's (MSFT) digital assistant for its Windows Phone mobile operating system, means there's another decision to be made when it comes to buying a new smartphone: Who do you want running your life for you?

????The newly unveiled Cortana app competes directly with Apple's Siri (AAPL) and Google Now (GOOG) for the chance to organize your appointments, contacts, travel arrangements, and all of the other minutiae of daily life. Microsoft calls Cortana the "truly personal digital assistant" -- a thinly veiled dig at its forerunners -- that analyzes how you use your phone to learn what topics you're interested in, when you're busy, and where you travel.

????Cortana can deliver a summary of relevant news stories at the start of the day. Like a flesh-and-blood personal assistant, it also allows users to set up a "quiet time" where calls and texts are silenced as well as letting an "inner circle" of contacts break through those restrictions. The Notebook feature lets you tweak what the app knows about you, providing a more granular level of control than either Siri or Google Now. Cortana seems to have a sense of humor too. Tell it toopen the pod bay doors on your space ship, and she'll reply that she's afraid she can't do that, Dave (a sly reference to the sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey).

????In many ways, Cortana combines Siri's voice search with Google Now's suggestions, which are based on data like your location, the time, and your appointment calendar. Some early reviews say Cortana is a step ahead of Apple's and Google's services, mostly by copying the best features from each. Cortana can tweak a phone's settings like whether to connect to Wi-Fi. (Google Now can't.) Cortana can also track a flight's status. (Siri simply returns a web result.)

????For now, only a test version of Cortana is available in the United States.

Cortana's competition: Siri

????Siri started the digital assistant trend as an independent, stand-alone app before being acquired by Apple in 2010. A year later, Apple integrated Siri into iOS and started marketing the service as an "intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking." Over time, Siri has become better at recognizing and interpreting commands while linking to more apps in Apple's ecosystem. What it doesn't have is all of the personalization and data collection found in Google Now and Cortana.

????Siri plugs into your emails, contacts, and calendar, but it's not trying to find out everything about you. "In some ways, the approaches each company has taken in the space is a reflection on their heritage," says Tony Costa, a senior analyst for Forrester. "Google Now is much more like a search engine -- efficient, task focused, and trying to anticipate what you need. Apple Siri is much more of a natural language voice user interface. And Cortana a bit of a blend of the two approaches."

????Currently, Apple does not have the breadth of services for Siri that Google and Microsoft have, and that's an area of concern for the company, according to Daniel Gleeson, an analyst for IHS Global. "Apple is relying much more on outside technology," he says. Voice recognition from Nuance and search results from Bing are just a couple of examples of help it's getting from others. "Google does all of that itself, while Microsoft has been researching voice recognition for over 20 years and has its own search engine as well."

????Despite being first with a digital assistant app, Apple is suddenly playing catch-up, says Gleeson. "You can actually see Google and Microsoft moving ahead in this space," he says. "Many people will say that Google Now and Cortana are already much more useful than Siri. Apple does need to address that, otherwise it will fall behind, and that's not a position that Apple is used to being in."

????Siri's voice control and personal data gathering were a first for mobile phones, but it's no longer enough. For a truly smooth and personalized experience, our digital assistants need to know as much about us as possible, and no one does that better than Google.

Cortana's competition: Google Now

????Google Now didn't premiere until 2012, but it has quickly become a critical feature in the company's Android operating system. Like Siri, it can be activated and controlled by voice, but voice isn't front and center the same way it is in Siri or Cortana. Instead, Google emphasizes the app's ability to predict what information users need and when. Recent searches, regular travel routes, and email messages are all scanned for information the user might want to see straight away -- the delivery status of your Amazon order, the weather, the latest news about a favorite sports team. In short, it doesn't wait for you to ask.

????While you can still talk to your phone to "send an email" or "wake me up in half an hour" as you can with Siri, Google Now adds suggestions and recommendations based on your searches, activities, and other data. Spend every Monday evening at the gym, for example, and it will soon learn to show directions on cue every Monday. This is something Siri doesn't yet have, and which Cortana is trying to copy.

????Microsoft is hoping that the privacy controls it has built into Cortana will provide a more appealing product for consumers than the all-pervasive Google Now. The Notebook settings page that lets users set exactly where Cortana can and can't look is crucial. "Probably the key difference between Google Now and Cortana is that easy control over what is displayed and what apps Cortana has permissions to look into," says Gleeson, of IHS Global. "Microsoft positions itself against Google by saying, 'We don't look into your private stuff,' so this really continues that way of looking at it."

????While the competing digital assistants offer a lot of similar functionality (creating appointments, searching the web), there are fundamental distinctions: At its core, Siri offers an alternative way of interacting with your phone and some of the apps on it. It's good at understanding natural language and acting on your instructions, for example. Google Now and Cortana add a more comprehensive collection of services and try to replicate the functions of a real-life assistant.