Yesterday, we reported about the Harman Kardon’s Invoke, which is a voice activated speaker built with premium materials with Cortana AI at its heart. Now, Microsoft (and Harman Kardon) has now officially announced its launch and availability via an official announcement.
Invoke, with Cortana, is a voice-activated device that can play your favorite music, manage calendars and activities, set reminders, check traffic, deliver the latest news and much more. You can also make calls to cellphones, landlines and other Skype-enabled devices through built-in Skype integration. It can also be used for home automation, to control your smart home devices like turn on the lights when you get home or control the room temperature etc.
On launch, Michael Mauser, President, Lifestyle Audio Division at HARMAN said:
We’re excited to work with Microsoft to develop a premium speaker that will deliver an exceptional experience to every customer using 360-degree Harman Kardon sound and the intelligence of Cortana.
Voice-enabled technology is the future; by teaming up with Microsoft, we’re delivering on our promise of elevating a connected life through smart technology, superior sound and the stunning design that is Harman Kardon’s hallmark.
Also, Jordi Ribas, CVP, AI Products at Microsoft said:
We are excited to partner with Harman Kardon to create a speaker that combines premium audio and stylish design with the intelligence of Cortana.
This is our next step in bringing Cortana to even more devices to help users be more productive wherever they are.
Invoke Features
- Invoke is crafted from premium materials and has a sleek, modern design.
- Invoke’s striking metallic speaker cabinet (featuring 3 woofers and 3 tweeters) delivers power and projects sound a full 360-degrees.
- Invoke is equipped with easy to use features, like a ‘touch to surprise’ user interface panel at the top of the speaker, interactive Cortana lighting, and intuitive buttons. It is the first of its kind to feature Skype integration, allowing users to make and receive crystal-clear, hands-free calls.
- Invoke is outfitted with HARMAN’s SONIQUE™ far-field voice recognition technology. It is a proprietary 360-degree adaptive technology (featuring 7 microphones) that recognizes all details of voice commands even in environments with high ambient noise. It uses HARMAN’s beam forming, echo cancellation, and noise reduction algorithms to ensure Cortana can hear you, even in challenging environments.
- Available in Pearl Silver (White) and Graphite (Black).
AVAILABILITY
Harman Kardon Invoke™ with Cortana by Microsoft will be available in the USA only at select retailers and Microsoft Stores in fall 2017. There is no word on pricing, however, we suspect it to be priced around the same range like the Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
 has now officially announced Invoke launch and availability via an official announcement. Coming to USA in fall 2017.){kind=link}