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BlackBerry Ltd. has unveiled its own Siri-like personal assistant, which responds to voice commands and helps manage simple tasks such as answering questions or turning on the smartphone’s flashlight.

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The Waterloo, Ont.-company took to its blog Wednesday to showcase the new BlackBerry Assistant feature as part of its 10.3 operating system on its upcoming Passport device — a cross between a smartphone and a tablet.

“I used it to remind me about a car appointment, a vet appointment and my anniversary,” wrote Donny Halliwell, BlackBerry’s social media marketing lead and editor of the Inside BlackBerry blogs. “Then, it helped me send an ever-so-romantic BBM note from the car on my way home (all hands-free, of course).”

Apple Inc. has had its personal assistant Siri available on its devices since 2011. In April, Microsoft launched its own personal assistant named Cortana as part of its new Windows Phone 8.1 software for mobile gadgets.