Harman Kardon Invoke Setup Failure

Well said. When they first released Cortana she was one of the best with many skills the other assistants did not have. Had they continued to push and evolve her she could have been what Alexa is today, but, instead, in typical MS fashion they let it flounder. 

I used my two Invokes with Cortana daily for home automation, from Hue lighting to my Harmony hub and combinations thereof.  

Not sure why I let myself keep getting pulled into Microsoft's abandonware.

Unfortunately today we got our answer. I can honestly say I am not surprised but we were led to believe via comments made in December that Microsoft were not going to pull support. Andrew Shuman reaffirmed support for the units.

Their move to remove Cortana functionality is disgusting and follows the pattern of sunsetting a large number of consumer faced devices in recent years. Promises have been made and subsequently broken, vague communications and or a lack of direct and honest responses from Microsoft have been disappointing.  Now we have lost Windows Phone, Windows Mobile, Zune, Band 1 and 2, Kinect, Xbox PVR/TV, Cortana on Invoke and Cortana more broadly.

The Invoke devices were purchased by many as a Cortana speaker so we could all work with the Microsoft ecosystem, to suggest that these are only used as speakers is absurd, most of the complaints suggest otherwise. I have and continue to use productivity features such as home automation, calendars, email, lists and other functions daily, the sad fact is the functionality was best about 2 years ago and has steadily declined - leaving many with few features to use bar basic interactions and light control.

HK should be working with Microsoft to offer a firmware update to install Alexa on these speakers and at least give us something back for the blood sweat, tears and $$$$ many of use have expended trying to support Cortana and Microsoft over the years. Another slap in the face from long time supporters and believers - burnt and subjected to abuse as is usual from the current leaders at Microsoft. The vouchers on offer do nothing to cover the large expense I will now have to undertake to remove and replace Microsoft in my life and home.

I live in the United States and bought an Invoke because I LOVE Harmon Kardon. I have a Mac, and an iPhone, and I bought it for one purpose only -- I simply want to use the Invoke as a Bluetooth speaker. I have gone through SO MANY trials and frustration trying to get Cortana to work as advertised, to try to get Cortana to talk to my Invoke, etc., and it has been a pain.

I got the email today from Microsoft that promised a new firmware update to the Invoke "in the first half of 2021" that will strip Cortana from it and turn it into a Bluetooth-only speaker. This is great news, as far as I'm concerned, because Cortana is TERRIBLE. Forcing Invoke users to set up the Invoke ONLY through Cortana was unbelievably stupid. Yes, it allowed Microsoft to mine all that beautiful data, but ... now that Cortana is useless, the Invokes are nothing but paperweights.

The email from Microsoft said that the Invoke should be plugged in and set up so that it can receive the firmware update that will change it into a Bluetooth-only speaker. BUT CORTANA DOESN'T WORK, SO I CAN'T SET UP THE INVOKE SO THAT IT CAN GET THAT FIRMWARE UPDATE.

To say that I'm annoyed is a great understatement.

Can Harmon Kardon take over and give us Invoke users an app specifically for updating the Invoke firmware, and nothing else? Can Microsoft get its stuff together and fix the Cortana issues JUST long enough to allow us to update the Invoke firmware?

None of this should be this frustrating.

I changed my location and now harman invoke is stuck at light spiraling around like it is stuck in booting only. I have tried everything including factory reset pin. No buttons are responding Mic or BT. Any solution to this?

Hello Allicit,

I can confirm that the behaviors that you're encountering are experienced the very same on my side with my one Cortana Invoke speaker: yes.

Specifically, the WiFi drops...which makes no sense to me whatsoever.  I am in Washington state, U.S.A.

I'm really not noticing "slowness" to respond so much, but that could be due to the fact that we are using our Google Home Mini more and more since Smart Life dropped their service from IFTTT.  

I am still holding out hope for Cortana because I am 100% integrated to MSFT for all things productivity such as Calendar (Outlook) and "To Do".

I would love to have (3) Invoke speakers as they are just incredible units.

I hope my response helps you.

Best Regards,