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$2,000 Bounty For Open Source Xbox Kinect Drivers
ptorrone writes "Open source hardware company Adafruit Industries is offering a $2,000 bounty for the first person or group to upload driver code and examples under an open source license to GitHub for the Xbox Kinect released yesterday. The Kinect sensor outputs video at a frame rate of 30Hz, with the RGB video stream at 32-bit color VGA resolution (640×480 pixels), and the monochrome video stream used for depth sensing at 16-bit QVGA resolution (320×240 pixels with 65,536 levels of sensitivity). The open hardware group would like to see this camera used for education, robotics and fun outside the Xbox."
The bounty was originally $1,000, but Microsoft's dour response induced Adafruit to double it. ("With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.") In addition, the Xbox 360 dashboard update that preceded Kinect's launch contains upgraded anti-piracy restrictions.
Ironically Microsoft out of all of the companies out there right now is the MOST trustworthy.
Microsoft just wants me to pay for it. They are annoying in the degree they go to make sure its paid for but for the most part if you bought it they're cool. You are still the customer when it comes to Microsoft.
Apple? They want to sell things too, but they are also control freaks that would want to make sure you are using it the way they want you to.
Google? They want to monitor and record everything I do and then sell that information to generate advertising revenue. Giving them a camera into your home and microphone.... "We saw you had trouble getting it up last night. Cialis can help with that..."
I kid of course, but in a lot of respects I really am finding that Microsoft is becoming the least objectionable option out there. They haven't really changed, but they just want my money -- I can live with that. They aren't really interested in controlling my life or recording it and selling it to the highest bidder.
IS MS's privacy policy so different from Google that it precludes them from selling my data?
Regardless of the policy Microsoft can't sell data they don't have.
They collect FAR less data than google does so they can abuse it far less than google does.
Apple is the one that doesn't really take many countermeasures against jailbreaking.
Apple is the only company that has locked those down in the first place. Microsoft just added a walled garden app store; historically it was pretty wide open.
And comparing the AppleTV to an Xbox is a superficial comparison.
Apple also doesn't doesn't support blue ray because Steve wants to push his online distribution model. (I'm fine with him pushing his model, but not at the expense of something a lot of customers clearly want.)
Similarly, they disallow flash on their devices without valid reason. Granted it may completely suck, and drink battery life - and those are valid reasons for not bundling it, and even recommending against it, but the final decision should still be up to the consumer not apple.
Apple also still doesn't let you virtualize OSX (except server); even on Apple hardware.
I could see an argument for saying both companies are just as locked down, but to say Microsoft is substantially better just ignores what they are doing, in any space they compete in.
I personally find Apple being at least as restrictive, and generally more restrictive in any space they compete in.