Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Releases Kinect For Windows
nk497 writes "Microsoft has released Kinect for Windows, featuring a new "near mode" that lets the gesture control tech be used as close as 40cm. The Kinect for Windows hardware will retail at $249 — well above the price of the version for Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft defended the price difference, saying sales of games and Xbox Live subscriptions help subsidize the console version. The new version will support Windows 7 and the Windows 8 developer preview, as well as Windows Embedded 7 devices."
I've been waiting a long time !!
Microsoft defended the price difference, saying sales of games and Xbox Live subscriptions help subsidize the console version.
Well, isn't that right? Sorry MS, I don't want to subsidize your console.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
i JU-st P000000steD tHIz using mi NEw keNe C t!
Considering the tech they're supplying. If you bought similar tech for a hobby robot or something, I'd bet the price would be even higher. (I don't know if that's the case as I haven't done hobby robotics since the RCX Lego Programmable Brick. Ah, memories)
Maybe they need to rev the hardware to give it a fisheye lens, because the FOV on the damn thing as it is now makes me stand like eight feet away ... which is on top of my couch. I find overall that the voice control is nice, the rest is just an annoying gimmick.
Looks like Windows 8 touch interface is already outdated. Don't bother with the Kinect, mind control will be available soon.
I thought OpenNI's implementation was supposed to be pretty darn good (compared to say the freenect drivers) as far as offering more options / tools. Just looking at their APIs shows how much you can really do. What I don't understand is this 'Kinect for Windows': is the difference just updated code..?
"... Microsoft has already confirmed that the Kinect will ... not even run on Windows PCs that aren't also running the developer's kit and using the device otherwise may actually void the warranty."
http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2012/01/ces-2012-kinect-for-windows-doesnt-mean-youll-be-playing-games-on-your-pc.html
So if you are not a developer, save your money.
Since I'm too lazy to RTFA, is the embedded device SDK meant to bring Kinect functionality to embedded devices/phones using your phone's built-in camera and mic? Or do you get to plug your Kinect into your phone and bring it with you on the bus?
Kinect?
you could open and close Windows without using a mouse.
Even with their own products. Its embarrassing that they took so long to realize the potential for this, and even then hackers beat them at it by years. Then there's the other 3rd party companies who ALSO beat them to market, and with cheaper products. Microsoft's innovation is staggering.
So wait, its more expensive? And there's going to be less games that use it. (see: none) Few if any will buy it, so nobody will waste time developing AAA games that use it, so nobody will buy it, so nobody will develop for it...
So without mainstream games, who is this supposed to appeal to? The very hackers who already got it working, because they wanted it? Whoops.
So, they're guessing people will buy it so that they can make voice commands to their computer like with the xbox? (which only works so-so)
But if that is the case, why not just add that software capability to Windows?! They can use existing microphones and webcams, gestures aren't as important since you HAVE A MOUSE that works perfectly well.
Absolute failure in marketing. I can't believe MS hasn't gone bankrupt yet, nobody likes their products. Zune sucks, Windows Live sucks, Windows Phone sucks... Oh yeah, thats right. They make their money by suing android manufacturers and by abusing their OS monopoly (7 should have been a patch to Vista, not a "new" OS to purchase, and they have completely ignored gaming on Windows, and fail to innovate. Year after year the only new features to Windows are features that have been in OSX for a few years).
INB4 "obvious MS bashing" Maybe they deserve some ridicule.
GCS/MU/P d- s:- a-- C++++$ UL++ P+ L++ E+ W++ N o K- w--- O M+ V- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5- X R++ tv+ b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h-
Windows can be rebooted without touching the keyboard. What a monumental advance.
Windows can be rebooted without touching the keyboard. What a monumental advance.
As someone higher up already said, MS is late to the party.
I've been rebooting my Windows machine for years without touching the keyboard. I use my boot.
No, really -- there's a Reset button on the front of the box, which sits under my desk. So when Windows is acting up, I kick the button. (Admittedly, less frequently as time has passed and they've ironed out the bugs.)
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
That's the old kinect. This one has different sensor capabilities.
User: Fuuuus-DOH-sah! Healing. (Raise left hand)
Seems pretty straightforward to me.
WINE version. Where is it?
Upward mobility is a slippery slope - the higher you climb the more you show your ass.
(I just measured it in my office in plain sight of my colleagues, with a ruler sticking out of my head). My hands would be mere inches away from the Kinect. How's that going to work?
For one thing, I'd have to lean back to bitchslap in Duke Nukem Forever, which frankly is a bit girly.
It'd almost be worth it if it could be programmed to interpret the one-finger salute as the three-finger salute.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Clippy: You appear to be masturbating. Do you need help with that?
I bash MS quite often so in all fairness...
IMHO, this is an awesome piece of kit at an incredibly affordable price. Good going Microsoft, you've done well.
Damn, saying that has made my face twitch.
"The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
You're forgetting about competing products from Primesense ( the guys Microsoft licensed the Kinect technology from ). Primesense has teamed up with Asus for some products as well.
I'm amazed at how many people think Microsoft developed Kinect. To me it looks like the only thing they did was come up with a name for their version. The Kinect looks identical to the reference design from Primesense.
I wonder if their Kinect patent filing was all about.. a weapon to use to bully primesense - that would be classic microsoft.
If any patent pro's are out there I'd be interested to hear an opinion on the kinect patent's novelty... or is it purely designed for courtroom posturing?
oops.. I posted above accidentally.
short version: Don't forget competing products also based on the Primesense technology.
Microsoft DID NOT MAKE THE TECHNOLOGY BEHIND KINECT !
They didn't even buy the company that did!
check out www.Primesense.com or search for primesense on the kinect wikipedia page ( before someone rewrites history that is.. ).
I really don't get this. I have the kinect for XBox, it's a bit gimmicky, but interesting and enjoyable in the way Wii was when it first came out. But I don't see the value add to a PC version.
All this hullaballoo about motion controlling TV's, your PC's, etc., makes no sense to me. Noone has yet to explain to me how using a Kinect and waving my hands around to control things on screen is easier then moving my wrist and finger a few mm to control my mouse or my thumb a few mm for a TV remote.
I'm sure the whole thing will be cool in a Minority report way, but I don't see how it can make it easier to interact with my PC and my gut tells me that for folks that get it, it's going to end up sitting on top of monitors collecting dust while people use their mice and keyboards.
Does this mean I'll have to dance in front of my computer to upgrade to ubuntu 12.0?
Have you seen the design of a kinect? An up-down motor that runs once per power cycle and really only needs to be realigned when it is moved to a different position. Sensors 7cm apart that are housed in a 30cm frame of cheap tacky plastic, leading to a much bigger shipping box than necessary.. The kinect should be cheaper and smaller than it is now, what on earth is in all the empty space anyway?
Starbucks, Harbuckle of Breath.
They got on top, then illegally exploited that position to try and keep anyone else from competing on a fair playing field.
Too busy to fully search, but what is the difference between Kinect on Windows and on 360. I know it says it has near mode, but is that only supported on Windows Kinects? Do I need to buy ANOTHER kinect (one for my 360, and one for my pc) or can I just use the Kinect I have for my X-Box 360 on my PC?
Defender of Microsoft and Communism!!!
...you'd think they'd want to help with getting some Open Source drivers developed for Kinect.
I personally cannot see a use for Kinect but I recognise the algorithms that make it work are pretty cool and Microsoft is rightfully quite proud of it. Hardware hackers are definitely going to be interested in it but if the majority of those are Open Source freaks, I doubt many of them will end up paying for a Windows 7 license just to use it on a desktop PC.
Common sense would have been for Microsoft to show off something good they've done, help develop Open Source drivers, and benefit from some additional Kinect sales when hardware hackers play with it on their Linux PCs.
Windows 10 is great - I used it to download Linux.
else the screen turning blue will be the last thing you see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qLDzLYPG-w
WHOOOSH!
My point was that Microsoft, once again, has spun things so far that they literally have it backwards and everyone buys it (excuse the pun) without a second thought. Peripherals don't support Operating Systems. Operating Systems support peripherals.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
ok so "back then" when windows was, by all accounts, much shittier than it is now, microsoft climbed to the top and established a monopoly. then using that monopoly, they perpetuated the monopoly through monopoly and increased product quality?
yeeeeeeaaaaahhhhh.....
Saw the following from a semi-famous developer in my twitter feed today:
Microsoft Store in Santa Clara apparently not selling Kinect for Windows unless customer can "prove it will be used for commercial purposes"
(later...)
Wow. You actually have to BRING BUSINESS DOCUMENTATION to the MS Santa Clara store to get a Kinect for Windows. Also sign licenses.
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
It's quite depressing seeing MS - so scared to endorse or appear to endorse Linux somehow - avoiding mentioning Linux compatibility with they hardware.
I assume that Kinect's SDK is just a bunch a Windows libraries + documentation, with no useful low-level information (which would be interesting to have, since it would be from an official source).
Well, I don't buy anything (for personal usage) from Microsoft. For over 20 years, I've never really needed anything _specifically_ from them, being that HW or SW (no sacrifices nor piracy involved) the last one being Microsoft's Amiga Basic in 1991, paid indirectly since it came with the computer.
While I have no real use for Kinect (beyond as a tinkering toy), I would feel more encouraged to buy it if Microsoft wasn't such an industry ass.
What is wrong with you morons. Who cares where it came from. It's the best robot sensor EVER, and I'm using one connected to a linux box today.
While it's really easy to live *without* ms software, I've found they make the best keyboards by far.
That makes sense, but I was asking about the comment trschober made where he says they got the monopoly through antitrust violations associated with already being a monopoly.
And, considering the case in question, he is really saying that bundling IE is what got them their monopoly. Which, doesn't seem historically accurate or physically possible.
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
And that's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_(gesture)
Be seeing you...