The first and only Cortana speaker removes Microsoft’s digital assistant

Microsoft once envisioned a future Cortana-powered fridge, full of toaster and thermostat, but it never worked. Herman Kardon’s Invoke speaker was the first and only Cortana-powered speaker to hit the market, but it is now receiving an update on Wednesday to deactivate Microsoft’s digital assistant.

Harman Kardon will do Push an update Invite the Speaker of Tomorrow (Spotted by Thurrott) To remove Cortana, after Microsoft announced plans to shut down its digital assistant on multiple devices. “Please note that the Cortana service on Harman Kardon invoices will be terminated in the coming months, regardless of whether you receive updates,” says Harman Kardon. Cortana is also disappearing on iOS and Android, and even on Microsoft’s own Surface headphones.

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Reporter Door

Microsoft originally had big plans for Cortana in 2016. The software maker outlined a vision to bring its digital assistant to fridges, toasters, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices, but Cortana never really caught on. Even the beautiful Cortana-powered GLAS thermostat is no longer powered by Microsoft’s digital assistant.

Microsoft now sees Cortana in interactive AI and the company is trying to replace Cortana as a skill that can run anywhere, rather than competing with Alexa or Google Assistant. Cortana is being used to improve Microsoft’s enterprise-centric offerings, after the company broke away from its Windows 10 discovery and silenced the digital assistant during the OS setup process.