Build 2017: Cortana goes beyond PC and smartphones, to be available in smart speakers and automobiles

Microsoft’s annual developer conference Build 2017 kicked of today with a bunch of announcements. One of the most interesting one was around Cortana where the company announced the Cortana Skills Kit. With this, it showcased the a new product made by Harman called the Invoke which has the AI assistant built-in.

While the product was announced a couple of days back, the new Invoke is a voice-activated speaker that can play your music, manage calendars and activities, set reminders, check traffic, deliver news and more. Thanks to Skype integration, one can make calls to cellphones, landlines and other Skype enabled devices. It can also control smart home devices using voice for instance turning out the lights or control the temperature.

Apart from the Harman, Intel and HP have also announced that they will produce Cortana enabled devices. While HP has said that it will focus on device creation, Intel will focus on the production of reference platforms.

Cortana will also go beyond your home and Windows 10 devices including your vehicle. Using the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker, Cortana can also the assist the driver in performing tasks hands-free while seamlessly interacting within your device network.

The Invoke speaker is scheduled to arrive by fall 2017 release.