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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 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)
Bought fucking time.
Down at the corner?
Looks like Windows 8 touch interface is already outdated. Don't bother with the Kinect, mind control will be available soon.
How about that reading comprehension. The console version is cheaper due to Xbox live subs, and the PC version has no Xbox live to support the cost. Im still calling bullshit on the price but call it in the correct manner, otherwise you make us sound worse than the retards who willingly buy this crap.
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.
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."
Then there's the other 3rd party companies who ALSO beat them to market, and with cheaper products. Microsoft's innovation is staggering.
Where are the sub $140 RGBD sensors that beat Kinect to market?
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...
This isn't just about games anymore. This isn't even just about desktop PCs. We're talking about the ability to build customized solutions using Kinect sensors for commercial sale and educational applications.
So without mainstream games, who is this supposed to appeal to?
Companies looking to commercialize and educational institutions, as evidenced by the commercial license and educational pricing.
So without mainstream games, who is this supposed to appeal to? The very hackers who already got it working, because they wanted it? Whoops.
People who don't want to go through the hassle of hacking it. It's relatively easy if you have the know how. But in many ways it's a pain in the ass. Nothing is easier than plugging it into windows and clicking "install" and having access to everything. Plus, the Windows SDK has access to much more advanced features you don't get with the hacked versions, including access to Windows speech recognition engine (which is very good) as well as bangarang skeletal tracking with a few lines of code. With the hacked API, you get sensor streams and that's it. You have to leverage several different architectures in order to get the functionality the Windows SDK provides. Microsoft is offering a better learning curve and that is worth something.
But if that is the case, why not just add that software capability to Windows?!
Windows 7 can already handle voice commands. Search for "Speech recognition" in the start menu.
The rest of your post is just blind nerd-rage.
How about realizing that it's a money grab.
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4210649/Kinect-s-BOM-roughly--56--teardown-finds-
Don't forget to add in assembly costs, RND, plastics, tooling, packaging etc. Obviously these things go down over time, but I'd estimate there would be an extra $5-$10 in cost, at the least. So lats say $70 cost to MS. This $249 price gives MS roughly a 20%-35% profit on each one, depending on what their wholesale price is. Hardly looks like a money grab to me.
That article is bunk, at least as far as supporting your assertion. It's a very basic, estimated BOM breakdown, excluding all development, marketing, support, distribution, retailer profit at about 5 or 6%, etc.
I don't think so. You would still need the Kinect since there is specialized hardware in it that allows all this to work. When they talk about embedded devices, I seriously doubt they are talking about phones, or any other consumer electronics. This sort of support is most likely targeted at point-of-sale embedded devices or kiosks or something else along those lines.
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
That, and the monumental monopoly that they got on the desktop thanks to their antitrust violations during the 90's.
They achieved a monopoly by being a monopoly?
1 (short ton / firkin) = 89.1432354 slugs / keg
They aren't integrating it into windows like with the xbox's OS though, and they're certainly not marketing it.
I'm assuming you're referring to speech recognition here? True they're not marketing it, but it's deeply integrated into the OS. In fact I can perform just about any function the mouse can, even web browse. It's not perfect, but I use it all the time when I'm away from the keyboard. You can even make macros. I have one I use to bring up weather and traffic information in the morning when I'm getting ready for work.
I guess "educational software" was the answer.
Not educational software, but for education. As in computer vision and robotics education/research. We just bought 15 kinect sensors for my lab to use for a course in computer vision next semester. We use the kinect all the time in our research. The only reason we didn't buy these new sensors is because we can't wait for the educational pricing to go live. I imagine most computer science departments around the world will want to have a fleet of kinects on hand for their curriculum as well.
How about realizing that it's a money grab.
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4210649/Kinect-s-BOM-roughly--56--teardown-finds-
Are you serious? You really think the entire cost of a device comes down to the sum of its parts? No costs involved in packaging, manufacturing, shipping, marketing, R&D, software development, profit, etc...? The iphone 4S is estimated at having a BOM totaling $188, but anyone with a shred of intelligence knows that there's much more to developing such a thing than simply buying those parts.
Windows-Up-Right-Right-Right-Up-Enter. Hadouken...erm, reboot.
Might change slighly if you changed your power settings. Ctrl-Esc if you don't have a Windows key.
Ugh, I just confessed to knowing some MS stuff on /. /me braces for the incoming downvotes :)
Vacuum cleaners suck. Kings rule.
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
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!"
When computing my self-worth I also factor in calcium, iron and all the various heavy metals I have accumulated over the years.
It opens up the horizon to everybody or at least people with imagination or a real-world need. The article in Investor's Business Daily had a photo of a guy steering his lounge chair by waving his hands in front of the unit mounted on the chair's armrest. Wait till Homer Simpson hears about this. "You know you've built a platform that's captured everyone's imagination when you hear back from a slaughterhouse that says they've built an app that measures the livestock's growth with Kinect, and they want to sell it to other slaughterhouses around the world." Craig Eisler, GM of kinect for Windows.
And it all started with this console that they gave their kid for gaming.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
The up/down is for people who are different hights, or for games which are better played sitting/kneeling vs. standing. I don't know, maybe everybody who uses your kinect are all the same hight and always use it from the same position, but for the rest of us that motor is pretty important.
The spacing on the visual sensors doesn't require such a wide sensor bar, but the spacing on the microphones (for effective direction-sensing and noise-cancelation) does. People always focus on the optical portion of the sensor, and ignore the highly-focused microphones (possible because they're harder to see).
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
That's impossible! The Kinect doesn't support Linux!
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/369596/top_ten_kinect_hacks_best_kinect_hacks_far/
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
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.