Harman Kardon Invoke Cortana Speaker

Anonymous
2020-03-04T03:48:09+00:00

Okay, I made the mistake of buying 4 Invokes for $50 at the Microsoft Store. I first bought two and really like them and then bought two more.  I have two of them set up.

I love the sound quality (it's better than the Echo Dots and Google Homes that I also have) and I've been pretty happy with them. I use them for listening to the radio (via TuneIn), setting timers, and as my alarm clock.

I have also set up reminders and they showed up in my Windows PC as a notification. That's something that I don't think Alexa or Google Home can do.  Really neat!  I also like Cortana's personality.

But I made the mistake of waiting too long before setting the other two up. I have been trying since December 2019 to set them up using both my Windows 10 PC and an Android phone. The setup app can connect to the speakers and then have the speakers connect to my WiFi network. Everything seems to be going well but the set up process never finishes.

After connecting to WiFi, the speaker tells me it needs to update the system software/firmware and to please wait. Eventually, the speakers tells me that something went wrong and that I should start the setup process over again.

I keep repeating the setup process and the same thing happens. It seems like it is trying to update the software/firmware to the latest version but a server is down or something so it can never finish the set up process.

Can someone from Microsoft please tell me if it is still possible to setup my two remaining Harmon Kardon Invoke speakers?  Is the server responsible for setting up and updating the Invoke still operating?

If not, is there any way I can manually update the firmware on the Invokes to the latest? There is a USB port on the Invoke that is supposed to be used for "service". Can this be used to update the firmware?  Is there a firmware file available for download?

If the server is down, can Microsoft put the server back up again so I can set up my remaining two Invokes?  I received no warning that this would happen.  Perhaps you host the server on your Azure Cloud services?  That would seem like the perfect place to do it.  It shouldn't take up too much resources as it would just spin up when needed.  Please restore the server even if it's only for a limited time.  Just give us a warning when it will go down so we would have time to set up our speakers before its too late.

I tried emailing Harman Kardon but I can tell they won't be of much help.  Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.  These are brand new speakers and I would just hate for them to be useless right out of the box.  And I wish that Microsoft wouldn't give up on Cortana like this.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Cortana and search

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-04-12T00:11:07+00:00

    I agree with you wholeheartedly. To your point, I still feel burned about them announcing the cutting of OneDrive's free storage through a blog post, but not sending emails to notify end users, until the very last minute. You are totally right though, they gutted all functionality on the Windows Phone, until only a simple husk remained, for those loyalists that held on desperately. Ironically, it was killing all of Cortana's functionality on the Windows Phone, which made me look else where...so I guess good job Microsoft, it worked!  

    You are right about a pattern, I honestly feel that they are taking that tact to limit new users and or boot out existing users. Perhaps this will limp on for another year or so, but unfortunately the writing is on the wall. Turning Cortana into Clippy 2.0 has to be the most infuriating and or disappointing things I have witnessed in the tech world, in quite some time. As you said, pulling out of mobile has destroyed my ambitions with Microsoft.  

    Cheers,

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-04-11T23:03:58+00:00

    There's no way this is a router problem with it affecting so many. Also, had to walk my dad through this a couple of nights ago on another Invoke. I bought his 6 months after my second one. Our first one doesn't seem to have this issue.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-04-11T16:50:10+00:00

    Just a small update, to those interested.

    I just talked to Customer Support over at Harman and Kardon, and they said there is no sort of software, or manual firmware update that end users can perform, everything is handled over the air.

    He suggested I reset my router, to which I told him I feel confident in saying that is not the issue, given that so many are experiencing the same problem. He also mentioned that if Microsoft shut down the servers, that the Invokes would stop working completely and or they would have to mention something on their website.

    Lastly, he said that the Invokes should automatically update when new firmware is present, and to leave them on for 24 to 48 hours, and report back if it solved the issue.

    Hope this helps someone, I am not confident that they will update, unfortunately.

    Cheers,

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-11T03:35:54+00:00

    I am literally in the same boat as you, set up my two new speakers today, and was able to get them working, but the firmware is at base (2.1729.2). I am guessing that Microsoft is slowly winding down to either kill Cortana and or Invoke, which is beyond bogus. That is the only reason I would think to take down the servers. There has to be some way to update these things manually. If it is possible to update the firmware on a Zune HD, there must be someway to do it for these devices. :/

    Cheers,

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-04-09T15:32:31+00:00

    I have been noticing that my speakers drop out far more often, and loose connectivity. I often need to unplug and let them refresh the connection. In the past they never dropped out and were rock solid. They seem far more finicky now. I think it's loosing cortana rather than a wireless issue.

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