Microsoft's Amazon Echo-Like Cortana Speaker's Features Include MS-Word Integration, Conversational AI

Samsung subsidiary Harman Kardon quietly announced its Amazon Echo competitor, called Invoke Monday. The speaker, powered by Microsoft's voice assistant Cortana, is expected to have features such as integration with Microsoft productivity tools, such as MS-Word and artificial intelligence (AI) more focused on human-machine interactions. "We are excited to partner with Harman Kardon to create a speaker that combines premium audio and stylish design with the intelligence of Cortana. This is our next step in bringing Cortana to even more devices to help users be more productive wherever they are," Jordi Ribas, corporate vice president, AI Products at Microsoft, said in the press release. The Invoke speaker looks similar to Amazon Echo and Google Home -- it has a cylindrical design and a top with LED lighting, which glows when the speaker is listening to the user's voice commands.