Microsoft Joins the Home-Speaker Party With Invoke

Similar to Amazon's original Echo, the Invoke is a Pringles can-size speaker that can play music, check traffic and answer questions about sports scores or historical facts. Microsoft and Harman Kardon announced plans in May to launch the Invoke, priced at $199. In August, Harman Kardon said it also would launch the Allure, a voice-enabled speaker using Amazon's Alexa. Though Microsoft's arrival to the market comes years after Amazon's, the company is betting the Invoke can draw customers in with its connections to Microsoft products that have millions of users, such as the Office productivity franchise and Skype internet-calling. Cortana, like Amazon's Alexa, will take commands from users.