Xbox One News: Voice Search Program Will Be Called Cortana, Use Halo Voice Actor, According to Leak

The Xbox One allows players to use voice commands picked up by the Kinect to navigate through menus and access different programs found on the console, but despite this useful technology, the console does not have a voice-activated search option like Apple's Siri or Google Now. However, according to a new report from Microsoft insider MSFTnerd, that may soon change. Microsoft might just be ready to bring a similar service not just to the Xbox One but other Microsoft products as well using a voice that video game fans will be very familiar with.

According to MSFTnerd, Microsoft's voice search program will be called Cortana, the name of the A.I. program found in the Halo video game series. Not only will the program be named after the popular character, but the voice actress who plays Cortana will also be the voice of Cortana the search program.

"Cortana will be voiced by Jen Taylor & will launch first in beta on Lumia this April for U.S. developers. The service will expand to the Bing app for iPhone in the US market this fall. The underlying technology will be extended to American Xbox One & Windows users in 2015 with Threshold. Availability in additional English-speaking territories will be spread out over 2015 & 2016. The speech recognition improvements have started to ship already in the Bing Translator app for Windows," reported MSFTnerd.

Cortana, much like similar programs, will allow users to verbally ask their products questions and receive answers as well as suggested websites or other relevant information. When applied to the Xbox One, users may be able to find out what their friends are up to, find different files located on the console, or even get recommendations for new games based on what is in the user's library already.

Halo fans will certainly get a kick out of using their own personal Cortana on the Xbox One, but people unfamiliar with the series will still find the service useful. Microsoft has been working on the service for quite some time, and with some of the latest voice recognition software being a part of Cortana, the tool will become something that Windows users will quickly find invaluable.

Check back with Latino Post for more news about Cortana as Microsoft prepares the beta version of the program for developers.