Siri-like Xbox One voice search program will be voiced by Cortana actor - Report

Microsoft's rumored Siri-like voice search program, believed to be called Cortana, will be voiced by none other than Cortana voice actor Jen Taylor. That's according to prominent Microsoft insider MSFTNerd who blogged today about Microsoft's plans for voice search.

Cortana is, of course, the name of the artificial intelligence character from the Halo series who appears in holographic form throughout the franchise.

He says Cortana will launch through a beta offered on Lumia devices this April for developers in the United States, before coming to the Bing app for iPhone in the US this fall.

After that, the "underlying technology" behind Cortana will be available for US Xbox One consoles and Windows PCs in 2015 alongside the rumored Threshold operating system.

Availability for additional English-speaking markets will be added later in 2015 and throughout 2016, he said. GameSpot sister site ZDNet reported in September 2013 that Cortana has been in the works at Microsoft for years now and will be a revolutionary product when released.

"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," the site said at the time.

The Cortana technology will reportedly allow users to ask questions and see results in real-time. In an Xbox context, players could ask, "What are my friends playing?" and their friends list would appear.