14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Microsoft was planning to give up on support for Harman Kardon’s Invoke in Cortana, and now it looks like the two companies have worked together to finally kill off the digital assistant on the smart speaker.
“After careful consideration, Microsoft has decided to end support for the Cortana integration in the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker in January 2021. Microsoft has worked closely with Harman Kardon to create a device transition plan that will help ease the impact this has on some of our customers,” the original announcement reads.
Of course, as you can easily figure out, the whole thing is happening some two months later, with Harman Kardon to roll out an update to kill off the Cortana support on March 10.
Oddly enough, the company says that only devices connected to the Internet between 2AM and 5AM would receive the update.
“This update will not be available after June 30, 2021. If your speaker isn’t already connected to the internet, it’s encouraged that you connect as soon as possible to ensure you receive the update. Please note that the Cortana service on the Harman Kardon Invoke will end in the coming months regardless of whether you receive the update,” it says.
Update going live on March 10
Is there a way to figure out if the update has already been installed? Well, it is, as you just need to try to wake up Cortana, and if there’s no answer, the digital assistant is gone.
Harman Kardon says it’s also disabling the reset feature before the update.
“The reset feature has been temporarily disabled while we roll out the update. Resetting your device will disconnect the Wi-Fi connection and you will not be able to reconnect. To receive the update, your Invoke must be connected to Wi-Fi. The reset feature will be re-enabled after the final update,” it says.
Full information on how Cortana would be removed from the Invoke is available here.