Category: Harman Kardon Invoke

A new report from Voicebot.ai suggests that 19.7% of Americans have at least one smart speaker in their homes with nearly 72% of them being Amazon Echo devices powered by Amazon Alexa.  The report goes on to suggest that by the end of the year, nearly 50% of households will have at least one smart speaker in their house.

The reports is based on a survey of 1,057 US adults and extrapolated from there.  While it may not be the largest sample size, it does give a solid indicator of where smart speakers going in the market and their adoption rate.  While Echo adoption was at 71.9%, Google was a distant 2nd at 18.4%.  The likes of the Hardon Karmon Invoke, powered by Microsoft Cortana, falls into the “other” category which accounted for 9.7% of devices.

If you missed out on picking up the beautifully styled Harman Kardon Invoke, powered by Microsoft Cortana, for $99 this past holiday season, now is your time.  Right now at the Microsoft Store you can pick one up for that special price, saving $100 in the process.

I posted my review of the Invoke in December and as I put in that review, it is one of the most stylish smart speakers out there with stunning audio quality as you would expect from Harman Kardon.  At the heart of the Invoke is Microsoft Cortana which, much like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, is a voice command away to help you with tasks or get information.

After several months of waiting, the new Harman Kardon Invoke smart speaker will be released this coming Sunday, October 22nd.  The speaker is powered by Microsoft Cortana and is the first dedicated Cortana smart speaker to hit the market.  It will be priced at $199 and will be available through a variety of retailers.

Microsoft Cortana has 148 million active users today and that number is expected to jump with Invoke.  The personal assistant, named after the personal assistant in the Halo franchise, has been a staple of Windows 10 since inception while the Android and iOS versions have been available for some time now.  In fact, on Android, you can make Cortana your default personal assistant.