According to reports from ZDNet, Microsoft is now working on a personal assistant to rival Apple’s ‘Siri’ for the new Windows Phone operating system. And just who is Microsoft’s personal assistant? None other than Cortana from the Halo series. With the upcoming OS release, Windows Phone users, if the rumors are true, can now speak directly to and receive assistance from Cortana just as Master Chief does in the hit video game series. Although, Chief probably never asked Cortana to set up a lunch date with his girlfriend at that lovely spot downtown.

Based on a Microsoft news update from mid-July of this year, which states “A family of devices powered by a service-enabled shell”, we could possibly see Cortana across all of Microsoft’s products, including the Xbox One, tablets and possibly even home computer operating systems.

Cortana will be able to learn and adapt to the users personal needs using “machine-learning technology” and the “Satori” knowledge base which powers Microsoft’s popular search engine, Bing. ”Cortana will be more than just an app that lets users interact with their phones more naturally using voice commands. Cortana is core to the makeover of the entire ‘shell’–the core services and experience–of the future versions of Windows Phone, Windows, and the Xbox One operating systems, from what I’ve heard from my contacts,” ZDNet reports.

A personal assistant from Microsoft has allegedly been around for some time, but Microsoft has been waiting to announce “something revolutionary, instead of evolutionary”. Microsoft has not yet confirmed any rumors about whether Cortana will be featured in their upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 OS update, which is expected to be released some time early next year.

Neat, but it doesn't make me want a Windows Phone.