The Windows Phone is getting a Halo-inspired voice assistant and a 2-minute video has been leaked to demonstrate. Posted by UnleashThePhones on Youtube, the video gives a sneak peek on how the Windows voice assistant operates.

The Siri counterpart is seemingly named after Halo's holographic artificial intelligence character, Cortana, notes GameSpot. The name could also very well be a code name, the GameSpot report adds. Cortana appears as a circular animated icon which serves a similar function as Apple's Siri and Google Now.

In the demo video, Cortana is described as "a personal assistant on your phone, ready to help with reminders, suggestions, tasks and lots more." Cortana requires the user to be signed in to a Microsoft account, based on UnleashThePhones' demo video, and functions on a question-and-answer basis.

According to a report by UnleashThePhones, the voice assistant can be activated either by pressing the hardware Search button or through the Start Screen. The set-up process asks for the user's name or nickname and other pertinent information like food, hobbies and interests.

Information about the user is then reportedly stored in its Notebook, notes The Verge, and "the voice and search functions are then activated."

Similar to Siri, Cortana is also able to automatically turn on "quiet hours" if set. Rules can be tweaked to allow calls if the caller has attempted contact twice in three minutes.

As for text, the user can choose to let in notifications for contacts in the "inner circle," not allow text notifications or ask senders. Users can also set Cortana to automatically reply to those out of the inner circle.

Cortana is reportedly set to replace Bing on the Windows Phone, making it the default search engine on the device, says CNet. CNet also notes that the voice assistant will be an optional feature of the Windows Phone 8.1 and is not required.

Although a demo video is already posted online, the Windows Phone-maker has not yet made any comment on their alleged voice assistant. Watch UnleashThePhones' video, which unfortunately does not include Cortana's voice.

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