When Microsoft unveiled Cortana as a virtual assistant in 2014, it was after considering a number of other names for the assistant
Cortana, Alex Eller Bingo?
Included was the proposal Alex Which supposedly rose to a very high level among the proposals, but lost in the end Cortana.
Now it turns out that old Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer has repeatedly tried to call the assistant bingoand that the Microsoft brand should distinguish it from head to toe. This was revealed in an interview with Sandeep Paruchuri, a former product manager for Microsoft’s Cortana division.
Must be used in Windows Phone
Parochori adds that current president Satya Nadella had other plans than his boss, and that he had great faith in the project because of his belief in the importance of artificial intelligence. The name Cortana remains, and it originated with inspiration from Master Chief’s virtual AI companion – the protagonist of Halo. Initially, Cortana was also to be used as a voice assistant in Windows Phones.
Neowin wrote that there were rumors in 2020 that Microsoft had plans to rename the assistant to “Microsoft 365 Assistant,” but that didn’t happen.
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