Windows Phone gets free Siri-like Ask Jiggy app

Windows Phone 7 now has its own version of Siri. It's called Ask Ziggy and it's a free application that's now available on the Windows marketplace.

The free voice assistant application brings Siri-like functionality to the Windows Phone platform.

Developed by the Shai Leib, with Ask Ziggy you can makes calls, send texts, email your contacts, update Facebook and Twitter, get weather and stock values, check your flight's status and much more simply speaking into your Windows phone.

How does Ask Ziggy work?  Leib describes the process to Phone arena:

"The text is analyzed for patterns to detect commands or general queries, while commands are interpreted and routed to routine phone tasks such as emailing, texting, calling, social network updates, and getting directions. If you're asking a more generic question, the app uses a hodgepodge of technologies and web searches to find the answer and several passes may be required to find a concise answer."

To effectively use Ask Ziggy, Ziggybot, gives some helpful tips:

When searching for directions, say,  "find" + [search word]. For example, "find Thai food", "find gas"

For flight status - say "Flight" + [airline] + [flight number]. For example. "Flight Jet Blue 234"

For stock prices - say [company name] + "stock value". For example: "Starbucks stock value"

Similarly for weather - say, the weather in [location]". For example "the weather in New Delhi". The results can be viewed for all your questions by clicking on your speech bubble at any time.

This free app also allows users to change the voice from male to female. 

The application has been ported to the Windows 7 phones and can now be downloaded from the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Check out Ask Ziggy in action