Microsoft was way behind when it comes to a highly useable smart virtual voice assistant. Till now. The company is working to be on par with the likes of Siri and Google Now, with a new assistant rumored to be called Cortana.  

If you're not completely aware, Cortana is the artificial intelligence character in the Halo video game series that the Master Chief carries around on his person.  

According to sources who spoke with The Verge, Microsoft's Cortana for Windows Phone 8.1 is real, and it woul offer an experience similar to what is currently offered by Google Now and Siri. We understand that Cotana will replace the built-in Bing search functionality in the operating system, and that the assistant won't have the same design as Cortana in the video games. Apparently, the real-world Cortana will be nothing but a little blue orb that animates when it is speaking.  

Several Xbox and Halo fans might be disappointed with this, as they would have preferred that Cortana has the same humanoid design seen in the video games.  

Interestingly enough, Cortana will have the ability to save user information inside a notebook, which will allow it to have access to such things as location data, reminders, and personal user information. We expect Microsoft to allow users to easily remove any personal information from Cortana's notebook to preserve privacy.  

As of now, Microsoft doesn't have the same contextual power of Google Now, but that's not a big problem. The software giant plans to use Bing and third party services such as Foursquare to bring Cortana on the same level when compared to what Google is offering. Whether or not this would make for a lousy performance is still anybody's guess.  

Cortana: "Good morning, Chief"  

Probably the best thing about Cortana, is its ability to address users by any name they deem as fit. This means Halo fans would finally be able to hear Cortana's voice addressing them as Master Chief, John, or simply, Chief. Yes, this feature is already there in Siri, but Siri is not voiced by Cortana's voice actress, Jen Taylor.  

Expect to see Cortana in action in April at Microsoft's BUILD developer conference. The battle of personal digital assistant has just got hotter.