With the Kinect setting a world record for it's unbelievable sales last year (18 million units sold in total), it's not a surprise that Microsoft wants to cash in more on it's success. With the Consumer Electronic Show taking place this week in Las Vegas, they chose to announce that the device will be making it's way onto Windows PC's.
Although I'm sceptical about it's usefulness as a device designed for motion-controlled gaming, I can imagine it's use in businesses as an interactive experience in presentations and meetings. However, Microsoft announced that it would be charging for the hardware only, and would make the SDK available to developers for free. This means that we could see a lot of innovative programs with the average consumer in mind.
As for the hardware itself little changes have been made apart from the inclusion of "near mode". This allows motion gestures to occur in a much closer space as near as 50cm. Obviously designed for more cramped office spaces where the ability to jump around is understandably more limited. You'll be surprised to know that the device itself isn't scaling down in size. This could pose a big problem for most users of the device, those with limited desk space are not going to want a cumbersome device hogging more of it, so Microsoft might want to rethink how they target the product.
The price point for the new Kinect is unfortunately a bit steep, with Microsoft announcing the price point at $249 which is $100 more than the Kinect's current price point on consoles. So not a cheap price, and no official software being announced as of yet, we can only hope that Microsoft don't make an investment into something that could be perceived as a fad.
Limited supplies of Kinect for Windows will be made available on the 1st of February.
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