Harman Kardon Invoke won't be a Cortana speaker anymore

Microsoft wanted Cortana to be its answer to the likes of Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. But now, the first and last speaker to have Cortana onboard will be letting it go. The Harman Kardon Invoke will receive an update this Wednesday that will disable Cortana. The company said Cortana will stop working in the coming months whether you receive the update or not.

Source: The Verge

Microsoft will shut down Cortana app in January

If you're using the Cortana app on your iOS or Android device, then you have until the end of January 2020 to have access to it. Microsoft will be ending support for the app on January 31. Instead, the personal digital assistant will be integrated into Microsoft 365 productivity apps, including Outlook. The Cortana content you made—which include lists and reminders—will no longer be accessible by that date on Cortana mobile and the Microsoft Launcher. Access to these pieces of information will be through Cortana on Windows. If you want access to them on mobile, you will need to download the free Microsoft To Do app.

What isn't clear at the moment is how Surface Headphones owners will be able to configure the settings and update the firmware now. Cortana is how you'll be able to do this. 

Microsoft releases a beta version of the new Cortana app on Windows 10

Microsoft is refocusing how it approaches Cortana. And one of the new ways is making it a chat-based app separate from the built-in Windows 10 search bar. It’s going to offer a more conversational experience. It’s being turned into a chat-based app for Cortana on Windows 10. The app supports both text and voice queries. And it still supports most of the existing features, including queries, assistant conversations, opening apps, managing lists, and basics like setting reminders, alarms, and timers. The company has tweaked Cortana so that “Hey, Cortana” is less intrusive. And the assistant now supports both the light and dark themes on Windows 10. Its performance should also be “significantly improved” thanks to new speech and language models.

But not everything is available out of the gate. According to Microsoft Windows Insider Chief Dona Sarkar, Microsoft plans to add more features over time. This version is available in the Fast Ring preview of Windows 10 build 18945. It will come to all Windows 10 users in the first half of 2020.

Source: The Verge

Cortana introduces new Scenes, Rules features

Even with Cortana getting a downgrade as a digital assistant, the virtual assistant is getting new features related to your smart, connected home. One of the new features is Scenes. It lets you bundle settings together under one name. For example, for a setting like Movie Time, you can set the lights to dim and the thermostat at reach a certain temp. MSPowerUser describes Rules as more conditional settings like IFTTT. For example, turn off the light at 6 p.m. The feature is said to be rolling out now to all platforms where Cortana is available.