Guess which tech giant just stepped up to challenge the Amazon Echo
Microsoft is finally giving Cortana its own hardware home.
Okay, it's not Microsoft exactly, but Harman Kardon's Invoke, announced Monday and coming this fall, is the first stand-alone hardware devoted to the Microsoft's chatty AI. And it looks like Amazon Echo's conical cousin, right down to the volume dial on top.
Like the Echo, Harman Kardon's Invoke is a speaker, but owing to Harman's audiophile roots, it raises the aural ante, including three woofers and three tweeters. The combination provides what Harmon calls 360-degree sound.
Cortana, though, is the star here. The voice assistant will be backed by a seven-microphone array, along with echo- and noise-cancellation technology -- all of which should help Cortana hear you better when you say, "Hey, Cortana, what's the weather?"
There isn't a lot of detail on the Harman Kardon website or Microsoft's blog post, but both promise music control (for select music services that Microsoft does not list) and the ability to control Smart Home devices.
Invoke's version of Cortana is of course the same digital assistant on your PCs, iOS and Android apps, provided you've signed in with the same Microsoft user account.
The arrival of Invoke this fall could mark a turning point for Microsoft Cortana, the mostly Windows 10-bound voice assistant that's primarily used as text-based search (almost no one is talking to their PCs). Thanks to the popularity of Amazon Echo and Alexa, people are already comfortable talking to an attractive device that sits in their kitchen, living room or bedroom. Like Google Home, Cortana is backed by a powerful search engine -- in this case Bing -- so it may know more than Alexa, which often gets basic questions wrong.
There's a twist here, though. Harman Kardon is a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung, the same company that just launched Bixby, its own digital assistant. Of course, Bixby is more concerned with controlling features and experiences on Samsung devices and not being an in-house know-it-all. Perhaps Microsoft's decision to go with Harman Kardon for Invoke is just an indication that this will be the first of many Cortana hardware partnerships, ones that we may hear more about this week at Microsoft's Build Developer's Conference in Seattle.
Pricing for Invoke hasn't been set, but you can register on the site to get notified when the device is available.
Topics Artificial Intelligence Microsoft
Lance Ulanoff was Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large of Mashable. Lance acted as a senior member of the editing team, with a focus on defining internal and curated opinion content. He also helped develop staff-wide alternative story-telling skills and implementation of social media tools during live events. Prior to joining Mashable in September 2011 Lance Ulanoff served as Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc. While there, he guided the brand to a 100% digital existence and oversaw content strategy for all of Ziff Davis’ Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com were all been honored under Lance’s guidance.He makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including SXSW, Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire’s Games and Mobile Forum.
