Microsoft's had its last keynote at CES, and the only real news is something we knew was coming anyway - Kinect for Windows.
Steve Balmer, CEO of the Redmond Giant Microsoft, has a reputation for being a little crazy on stage. Normally, when he's talking to the public, he limits himself to merely looking like a psychopath and sweating profusely; talking to developers and staffers, however, he's more well-known for bizarre chanting, running around like three-year-old on crack, and being even more intense.
At CES this year, where Microsoft is delivering its last keyntoe, he's decided to go for full on developers-developers-developers mode and fly around the stage like an airplane while not, actually, announcing anything of real import.
The one thing that has come out, however, is a firm date for Kinect to be available for Windows. In fact, it's only a month away, with the motion sensing hardware hitting OS and locally on February 12 - this year.
We covered the release of the Kinect SDK last year, and it seems there's been a huge amount of interest. Not only has Microsoft worked on getting the Kinect working at short PC distances, but the company seems to be looking at the Kinect as a pure interface device, not just a game peripheral.
"The ability to sell Kinect for Xbox 360 at its current price point is in large part subsidized by consumers buying a number of Kinect games, subscribing to Xbox LIVE, and making other transactions associated with the Xbox 360 ecosystem," said Craig Eisler, GM of Kinect for Windows. "With Kinect for Windows, we are investing in creating a platform that is optimized for scenarios beyond the living room, and delivering new software features on an ongoing basis."
Issue: 137 | June, 2012