First and only Cortana speaker removes Microsoft’s digital assistant

Microsoft once envisioned a future filled with Cortana-powered refrigerators, toasters, and thermostats, but it never worked. Harman Kardon’s Invoke speaker was the first and only Cortana powered speaker to hit the market, but it’s now getting an update Wednesday to turn off Microsoft’s digital assistant.

Harman Kardon will be offering an update to the Invoke speaker tomorrow (spotted by Thurrott) to remove Cortana, after Microsoft last year announced plans to shut down its digital assistant on multiple devices. “Please note that Cortana service on the Harman Kardon Invoke will end in the coming months whether or not you receive the update,” says Harman Kardon. Cortana is also disappearing on iOS and Android, and even Microsoft’s Surface headphones.

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Microsoft originally had bigger plans for Cortana in 2016. The software maker laid out a vision for bringing its digital assistant to refrigerators, toasters, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices, but Cortana never did. really understood. Even the beautiful Cortana-powered GLAS thermostat is no longer powered by Microsoft’s digital assistant.

Microsoft now sees Cortana’s value in conversational AI, and the company is trying to reposition Cortana as a skill that can run anywhere instead of competing with Alexa or Google Assistant. Cortana is increasingly used to improve Microsoft’s business-focused offerings, after the company separated it from Windows 10 search and silenced the digital assistant during the operating system setup process.