DHAKA: Microsoft on Wednesday took on Apple’s Siri and Google Now with a smartphone personal assistant dubbed ‘Cortana’, gleaned from a character in the hit Xbox video game ‘Halo’.

Windows Phone vice president Joe Belfiore introduced Cortana on stage at the technology titan’s annual developers conference.

‘Cortana is the first truly personal digital assistant who learns about me and the things that matter to me most, and knows about the whole Internet,’ Belfiore said in a presentation opening the gathering in San Francisco.

Cortana responds to conversationally spoken requests or commands, using insights gleaned from calendars, contact lists, online searches and other smartphone sources to respond in a manner akin to a real-life aide, Belfiore demonstrated.

Cortana’s voice and character is based on a popular artificial intelligence character in Microsoft’s blockbuster Xbox console video game ‘Halo’.

It comes as a long-awaited counter to the Siri virtual assistant on Apple mobile devices and Google Now capabilities in Android tablets and smartphones, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1300 HRS, APR 03, 2014