PC World New Zealand Microsoft still loves smart devices, rolling out Azure Percept camera, mic and services Cortana-based smart speakers are out, but AI-driven hardware is in Credit: Microsoft Microsoft may have given up on smart speakers for the consumer, but the technology giant hasn’t given up on letting others build intelligent devices based on its own technologies and hardware. On Tuesday, Redmond launched Azure Percept, a platform of hardware and services that’s built around Microsoft-designed hardware and Microsoft’s Azure artificial intelligence (AI) platform. They're part of what's known as “edge computing,” intelligent devices that can process data on their own but are best when combined with the cloud.