Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Kinect for Windows to be New Hardware Design

Microsoft has announced that the Kinect for Windows will be a whole new & improved designed for PC's

If you thinking of grabbing and using your Kinect from the 360 on your PC, you will be out of luck, as Microsoft plans for the Windows version will require all new and better hardware to use on the PC

Since announcing a few weeks ago that the Kinect for Windows commercial program will launch in early 2012, we've been asked whether there will also be new Kinect hardware especially for Windows. The answer is yes; building on the existing Kinect for Xbox 360 device, we have optimized certain hardware components and made firmware adjustments which better enable PC-centric scenarios. Coupled with the numerous upgrades and improvements our team is making to the SDK and runtime, the new hardware delivers features and functionality that Windows developers and Microsoft customers have been asking for.

Simple changes include shortening the USB cable to ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and the inclusion of a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals. Of particular interest to developers will be the new firmware which enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 50 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation down to 40 centimeters. "Near Mode" will enable a whole new class of "close up" applications, beyond the living room scenarios for Kinect for Xbox 360

Does this mean the 'Next-Gen Xbox' (aka) 'Xbox 720' will have yet another Kinect SKU combining the full-body-tracking of Kinect with a close-up option to provide additional functionality for the more hardcore pad base games? 

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