Halo 5 News: 343 Industries Working on Unannounced Projects; Cortana as Microsoft's Siri?

343 Industries, the developer behind Halo 4, has announced its working on new projects, leading some to wonder when they can expect Halo 5 from the company. At the same time, Microsoft is preparing to launch their own version of a voice command software named after Cortana, the A.I. from the Halo series.

In a new blog post on Halo Waypoint the developer hinted that they are working on additional projects beyond what has already been announced by the company.

"What is looming on the horizon for the studio is both exciting and daunting. We're working on projects that you know about (the TV show and Halo Xbox One) and others that you don't (insert absolutely zero clues here)," wrote Halo Waypoint. 

This news is intriguing for several reasons. Back at E3 in June, Microsoft revealed a teaser for a forthcoming Halo title coming in 2014, however, the Halo game hinted at was not confirmed as Halo 5, leading some to believe that this game will be a spin-off to the series rather than a follow up to Halo 4. This unknown project could either be Halo 5 - and the E3 Halo game is indeed a spin-off title from 343 Industries - or perhaps the E3 Halo game is in fact Halo 5, and the unknown projects could be spin-offs such as the mobile Halo: Spartan Assault or a full console game. While 343 Industries confirmed they are working on "Halo Xbox One," the developer has not acknowledged it's working on Halo 5 or a spin-off, but the vague title may point to a spin-off rather than Halo 5.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is preparing to launch its own voice command system similar to Apple's Siri and Android's Google Now. ZDNet is reporting that the company will name their voice command system Cortana after the A.I. system found in the Halo series. This would be a nice nod to the popularity of the series, and according to the report, Cortana "will be able to learn and adapt, relying on machine-learning technology and the 'Satori' knowledge repository powering Bing."

Users can expect Cortana to be available on future Windows Phone devices, along with the company's other devices, including the Xbox One. It will be interesting to see if there's any truth to this report and if Xbox One users can pull up Cortana just like Master Chief and ask her questions.

Look out for more Halo news right here as the 2014 release date for the new Halo title draws closer.