Windows Phone 8 users have only received a few minor updates since the mobile OS launched in October 2012, but a recent development kit leak shows that the OS is due to receive loads of changes in the major update coming later in 2014.

The most notable feature is Cortana, the personal digital assistant is named for the AI from the Halo game series.

Sources”…familiar with Microsoft’s Windows Phone”, speaking to The Verge, have said that Cortana will replace the Bing search feature and could be seen as a combination of Apple’s Siri and Google’s Google Now. The digital assistant will have a range of animations, including speaking or frowning when busy with certain queries.

Now if they can just get Cortana working as a hand-held holographic projection…

Source: The Verge