Since Windows Phone is dead, it appeared for a time that Cortana was dead too. At least as far as Invoke users are concerned. According to a post by MS Poweruser, Microsoft removed the following Cortana functionality from Harman Kardon Invoke speakers for Windows 10 20H1:
- Bing Instant Answers
- Jokes and other assistant conversations.
- Timers
(Edit: Thanks to Daniel Rubino for pointing out that these features were not removed from the Invoke, and were only temporarily removed from Windows 10)
Sadly, Microsoft recently decided to remove Cortana functionality as the Redmond company repositions the assistant towards “a personal productivity assistant.” One Reddit user, Watashifr, posted their Cortana issues on Reddit using the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker outside the US.
“Since yesterday neither of my HK Invokes (I have several) creates reminders or adds to lists anymore. Saying “remind me to” or “add to list” gives “Sorry, I can’t help with that”. Music, weather, and regular searches work as expected. Is there a backend problem? I’ll be resetting one of my Invokes to see if the problem goes away, but has anyone else noticed this?
UPDATE: the plot thickens: “Alexa, open Cortana” isn’t working on my echo devices.”
Today, Windows Central’s Daniel Rubino tweeted that Microsoft told him and Zac Bowden at Ignite that the company has no plans on abandoning Cortana support on the Invoke.
Cortana/Invoke had some hiccups this weekend, but evidently it's coming back online/fixed for users.
Microsoft told @zacbowden and I at Ignite there are no plans to discontinue support for Invoke and it will continue to work 🤷♂️ https://t.co/skAUBSf5jh
— Daniel Rubino (@Daniel_Rubino) December 16, 2019
Apparently, it was just a little bit of a “hiccup” that Cortana functionality experienced over the weekend. Has anyone else experienced issues with using Cortana on the Harman Kardon Invoke or Amazon Echo? Let us know in the comments.
