Microsoft is clearly feeling left out in the smart speaker wars. While Apple, Amazon and Google, with HomePod, Echo and Home respectively, have their own-brand devices, Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant is largely anonymous in the space.

The only one most have heard of is the Cortana-powered Harman-Kardon Invoke.

That's why Microsoft is now reportedly making its own smart speaker, in order to show that Cortana can cut it alongside the likes of Siri, Google Assistant and, most importantly, Alexa.

Documents said to come a development team have fallen into the hands of German website WinFuture. It claims they reveal that Microsoft and Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computer have partnered to build the new speaker.

While Cortana is not mentioned directly, it is highly likely Microsoft will use its own voice assistant and smart home control technologies than rivals'.

At CES 2018, Qualcomm also revealed that its smart home technology also supports Cortana. That will surely form the basis of the Microsoft speaker, therefore, and it is guessed that could mean a variant of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 system-on-chip will drive the device.

When the speaker might launch is completely unknown at present, with WinFuture saying that the project documents it has been witness to are from early in the process.

Indeed, it might be that Microsoft ditches the plans somewhere down the line entirely. We'll keep you up to date along the way regardless.