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Microsoft XBox One Kinect Will Not Work On Windows PCs

Posted by timothy on from the sir-you-need-to-get-back-in-line dept.

symbolset writes "Ars is reporting that Microsoft XBox One Kinect will not work on Windows PCs. It uses a proprietary connector and an adaptor will not be available. If you want Kinect for your PC you will need to buy a 'Kinect for Windows' product. Although the Kinect 1.0 for XBox 360 also had a proprietary connector it came with a USB adaptor for compatibility with older versions of the 360 that lacked the new proprietary port and PC compatibility was quickly hacked up by third parties."

16 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft seem determined by maroberts · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ..to shoot themselves in the ass with their desire to compartmentalize everything. One reason the Kinect was such a runaway success was the fact that people thought of doing imaginative things with it and stretching its operational boundaries.

    --

    Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
    Karma: Chameleon

    1. Re:Microsoft seem determined by Spy+Handler · · Score: 4, Insightful

      they're just aping what Apple is doing. Oh Apple is dominating mp3 players with the ipod? Let's make the Zune! Apple has their own Apple stores? Let's open our Microsoft stores! Apple has proprietary connectors? Let's make proprietary connectors!

    2. Re:Microsoft seem determined by crutchy · · Score: 5, Funny

      ms fucked up when steve jobs died... they should have followed suit and killed off ballmer

    3. Re:Microsoft seem determined by bmk67 · · Score: 4, Funny

      You sir, owe me a new keyboard and a Coke.

    4. Re:Microsoft seem determined by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh, come on, that had nothing to do with it selling well - 99.999% of the Kinects sold were just plugged into an Xbox 360 and used for normal console games. It was cool that it worked on a PC and they released a Windows SDK, but that had almost zero to do with the actual units sold.

    5. Re:Microsoft seem determined by OP+is+trolling · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ..to shoot themselves in the ass with their desire to compartmentalize everything. One reason the Kinect was such a runaway success was the fact that people thought of doing imaginative things with it and stretching its operational boundaries.

      Original article says they're going to release 2 different Kinects; one for Windows and one for XBox One... but hey, let's form opinions based on headlines and cherry picking quotes!

    6. Re:Microsoft seem determined by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why? The XB1 is a PC, albeit a customized one operating in a walled-garden OS environment. Both have USB so interfacing isnt an issue. Greed-based pricing/licensing is the only reason they would need two models.

    7. Re:Microsoft seem determined by Missing.Matter · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The people doing the most impressive/innovative things with the Kinect are research institutions and startups. Sensors like the original Kinect used to cost in excess of $5000 - $10000. I've seen some as high as $70,000 which are not as nice as the Kinect and don't offer the same developer resources and community support. At $199 they were a complete steal. Sensors like the Kinect 2 simply do not exist today, and several that are slated for release (which still don't match its capabilities) still run in excess of a grand.

      With that in mind, the $399 Kinect for Windows is still a complete steal. It's *the* most innovative and cheapest sensor for robotics, my field, period. The time of flight capabilities they added to the Kinect 2 are unheard of for under $6000. The resolution is unheard of for any price. I will be the first one in line to buy a PC compatible kinect for my robotics research, and I'll be smiling all the way home TYVM.

    8. Re:Microsoft seem determined by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because the article said something negative about Microsoft. Obviously it can't be wrong.

    9. Re:Microsoft seem determined by DrGamez · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because when before I had to just buy one, now I must buy two to get the same "functionality". I don't get how this is confusing.

    10. Re:Microsoft seem determined by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Why are people assuming the Windows and XBox One versions will differ only in connector?

      Kinect 1 was an add-on for the XBox 360. That means everything particular to Kinect had to be in the Kinect itself, for example some video processing capability. USB, after all, is a sucky interface for video transfer, and the XBox 360 had no particular capability to do the processing required by Kinect anyways.

      Kinect 2 is an integrated component of XBox One, so more of its processing is almost certainly offloaded into the GPU or other components of the XBox One console. Surely this will be cheaper than having separate (and substantial) RAM and processing inside the Kinect. But obviously the Kinect for PCs cannot take the same approach.

      Granted, I have no direct knowledge and am just reasoning this out. But if you're designing the console and sensor together it's hard to imagine it won't be cheaper to have a deeper integration of computing resources needed.

    11. Re:Microsoft seem determined by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wait, let me fix that for you:

      99.999% of the Kinects sold were just plugged into an Xbox 360 and used for one or two console game and then left to collect dust after a few months.

      Because, neat as the technology is (and I have to give kudos to Microsoft, the Kinect is neat tech), it doesn't really add anything to most games. Hell, in most cases it is more frustrating to use the Kinect to control your character than the regular gamepad. Sure, the Kinect-enabled party-games were fun for a while - mostly to show off to your friends - but they quickly wore out their welcome as everyone gravitated towards more traditional games, be it Rock Band, Madden or Call of Duty. The most use I got out of my Kinect was when playing Mass Effect 3, and then only because yelling "quicksave" was the one thing that the Kinect made easier to do than navigating all those menus with a gamepad.

      With Kinect2 built into every XBOne ot will make it easier for developers to add the technology to their games but I have strong doubts that it will make motion-control any more /useful/.

  2. Not proprietary for long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How much you want to bet it's just USB with a funny shape on the end

  3. If I may be allowed a shameless pun... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...It seems Microsoft is dis-kinected from fans.

    1. Re:If I may be allowed a shameless pun... by UltraZelda64 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not if it's dis-kinected from the wall outlet first.

  4. I just bought a Kinect for PC by Mike+Blakemore · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There are some differences between the PC version and the Xbox version. The PC version has "upgraded" firmware that allows for gesture recognition at closer proximities. Also, its about $100 more than the Xbox Kinect.

    I'm now using it for speech and gesture recognition in Touch Control System (TCS): a 3D game engine built for controlling electronics.
    http://hyperplaneinteractive.com/blog/tcs-in-depth/