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Microsoft starts shipping Kinect for Windows PC

February 3rd, 2012
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As expected, Microsoft Corporation yesterday started shipping contact-less controller Kinect for Windows PC. As reported in company’s blog, Craig Eisler, general manager of the product, says that the PC version of Kinect is intended for developers who will now be able to create the commercial applications, controlled by voice and gestures.

Along with the hardware, Microsoft has also released the first version of software development kit (SDK). Some enthusiasts had already worked on Kinect for PC and created programs for it, but their commercial use was not allowed.

Improved depth sensor in the adapted PC Kinect would be able to “see” objects at a distance of 40 centimetres. For comparison, users of Kinect for Xbox 360 have to sit at a distance of at least a few meters (1.2–3.5 m) from the controller. Speech recognition system and method for tracking the human skeleton have also been significantly improved in the Windows-version of gadget.

Price for the PC version of Kinect is $ 250 (one hundred dollars more than Kinect for Xbox). For qualified educational institutions, Kinect would be cheaper by $ 100 i.e. $ 149.

Up to four sensors can be connected to one computer. Supported OS – Windows 7 and Windows 8 Developer Preview.

Steven Ballmer on January 9th during CES had announced the scheduled release date i.e. February 1 of Kinect for Windows PC. The company had also released a video demonstrating how to use the controller on desktop computers. The video showed how people played musical instrument by moving their hands in the air, a surgeon, going through x-rays, without touching the screen, and a combat engineer, deactivating the remote bomb.

Speaking at the event, Ballmer had also said that by the end of last year the company sold more than 66 million Xbox 360 consoles and 18 million Kinect controllers. In early 2011, Kinect was listed in Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest selling entertainment device. Now, it remains to be seen whether Kinect for Windows would also gain the same popularity.

Source:http://socialbarrel.com/microsoft-starts-shipping-kinect-for-windows-pc/31569/

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Microsoft Opens Door to Kinect for Windows Apps

February 2nd, 2012
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As promised, Microsoft on Wednesday shipped version 1.0 of the Kinect for Windows SDK and runtime and said partners have started selling the Kinect hardware.

The Kinect motion and voice sensor was initially designed for use with Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console. But it soon became clear that developers wanted the chance to build new kinds of applications using the sensor. Microsoft has been letting people build Kinect apps for PCs, but only for non-commercial use. This release of the SDK (software development kit) means that developers can launch commercial products using the sensor.

The SDK and runtime include a few improvements over the most recent beta version, Craig Eisler, general manager of Kinect for Windows, wrote in a blog post. They enable support for up to four Kinect sensors plugged into the same computer, include improved skeletal tracking of users and have a “near mode” for tracking movement as close as 40 centimeters in front of the device.

They also have the latest Microsoft speech recognition technology and an installer that developers can use in their application set-up programs.

Eisler wrote that the company expects to release updates to the SDK and runtime two to three times a year.

He didn’t name who is selling the Kinect hardware but said the suggested price is US$249. Amazon.com is selling it for that price. Microsoft plans to soon offer a special academic price of $149 for qualified educational uses.

At CES in January, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that the company planned to release the Kinect SDK and hardware on Feb. 1.

Late last year Microsoft kicked off a program designed to give Kinect developers a leg up. The company is selecting 10 people or startups who will spend three months in Seattle working out of the Kinect offices. They’ll receive technical training and support and have access to investors and Microsoft executives. They also get $20,000.

Microsoft has highlighted a wide array of applications that might be possible or are already in development for the Kinect. In one video, Microsoft shows people using the Kinect to play instruments without the instrument, a doctor in an operating room flipping through X-ray images without having to touch them, and a teacher controlling a display of the night sky by waving his arms.

Source:http://www.pcworld.com/article/249151/microsoft_opens_door_to_kinect_for_windows_apps.html

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Now Microsoft denies new hardware for E3

February 1st, 2012
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Microsoft has followed Sony’s lead in declaring that it will show “nothing new” in terms of hardware at this year’s E3.

Yesterday Sony’s French CEO Phillippe Cardone was quoted as saying that “Sony is under less pressure than it’s rivals and will probably be the last to announce something”.

Now another French exec, the marketing director of Microsoft soft France, has made a similar claim about Xbox.

“We’re in an industry that talks a lot, that likes to tell stories,” Cedrick Delmas told Lepoint, as reported by VG247. “I am not convinced things will happen this year.

“Xbox 360′s cycle is not at all finished. The proof is that we don’t see the logic in cutting the price this year. E3 is still premature. What’s certain is that there’ll be nothing new in 2012.

“We’re not here to counter Nintendo and they’re not here to fight the other manufacturers. Nintendo has put itself in a different cycle, they’re advancing at their own pace.”

MCV reckons the platform holders should make sure they keep their French executives in the loop. As has been widely reported, we still maintain that both platform holders will debut their next-gen plans at E3 in June.

Source:http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/now-microsoft-denies-new-hardware-for-e3/090496

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Microsoft Looking Forward Integration of Kinect into Notebooks.

January 31st, 2012
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It looks like Microsoft Kinect, originally a device for video gaming, is incoming to all types of personal computers with Microsoft Windows onboard. The software giant is now looking forward integration of Kinect sensors into laptops.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in early January Microsoft disclosed plans to introduce a special Kinect add-on for desktop personal computers. Apparently, the company is now working on a reference design that would enable manufacturers of notebooks to integrate Kinect into mobile PCs as well. During the CES, the software giant reportedly demonstrated such designs behind closed doors.

The first prototype to integrate Kinect was as Asustek Computer laptop with cameras and sensors located on top side of the screen, according to The Daily web-site. Asus and Microsoft have not officially commented on the information, but a source within the software company did confirm the plan to build-in Kinect into portable systems unofficially.

Support of Kinect SDK will likely be a part of Windows 8 operating system therefore it is logical for Microsoft to give independent software maker maximum freedom in order to quickly make Kinect a default technology on PCs, something that will give the software giant a distinct advantage over Apple and its Mac OS X. What is unclear is how will Kinect’s natural user interface (NUI) will co-work with extremely simplistic and rather poor-looking Metro interface that Microsoft proposes to adopt for tablets as well as PCs.

Kinect for PC will be slightly different than the Kinect for Xbox 360 in terms of hardware and software. Details are vague, but Microsoft claims that it had optimized certain hardware components and made firmware adjustments which better enable PC-centric scenarios. Simple changes include shortening the USB cable to ensure reliability across a range of PCs and the inclusion of a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals. Of particular interest to developers will be the new firmware which enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 50 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision. “Near Mode” will enable a whole new class of “close up” applications, beyond the living room scenarios for Kinect for Xbox 360.

The Kinect sensor features an RGB camera, a depth sensor, audio sensors, and motion-sensing technology that tracks 48 points of movement on the human body. Kinect has the ability to recognize faces and voices. Kinect can perform full-motion tracking of the human body at 30 frames per second. The depth sensor of Kinect for Xbox 360 supports 640×480 resolution.

Source:http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20120130195529_Microsoft_Looking_Forward_Integration_of_Kinect_into_Notebooks.html

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Will Microsoft Port Kinect To Asus Notebooks?

January 31st, 2012
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Microsoft is working with hardware manufacturers to bring its groundbreaking Kinect motion control technology, currently an Xbox exclusive, to PCs and laptops, according to reports that indicate Taiwanese computer maker Asus is one of the OEMs initially involved with the project.

Asus has developed a prototype Windows 8 notebook computer that has Kinect sensors incorporated into the top of the display where the Web cam would normally be, The Daily and other tech blogs reported. Microsoft and Asus have not confirmed the report, but Microsoft in the past has said publicly that it plans to port Kinect to Windows and has made a software kit publicly available to developers.

Microsoft sees applications for Kinect, which contains an array of sensors that translates users’ physical gestures and speech into onscreen actions, in vertical industries such as healthcare, education, and high-tech manufacturing.

A pilot program at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, U.K., shows how Kinect can potentially help individuals who have suffered strokes or other traumas that have left them with impaired mobility. Patients in the hospital’s neurological rehabilitation unit are using Kinect software that requires them to react to onscreen events and commands. The hospital says the exercises are helping them to regain mobility, coordination, and balance.

In another non-gaming application, healthcare tech specialist Tedesys, of Cantabria, Spain, is developing a Kinect-based platform that’s meant to allow physicians to operate on patients through remotely controlled instruments–an application that could save lives in disaster areas, battlefields, and other situations that may be physically inaccessible or where it would be too dangerous to send in doctors.

Some analysts believe Kinect could also play a role in day-to-day office computing, if Microsoft and its partners can establish standards at the API level for gestures to control the desktop. “People like Microsoft are going to have to lead,” said IDC analyst Al Hilwa. “There needs to be standards that say that if you swipe left, you get the Control Panel, or if you swipe right, you get the Task Bar, and so on.”

Hilwa is confident that gesture-based computing “is here to stay,” and warns that it could put further pressure on internal corporate software development organizations, many of which are already strained by the need to roll out mobile versions of enterprise apps. “At some point they are going to have to accommodate for this,” said Hilwa.

To drive commercial development, Microsoft has released a toolkit that helps developers build Kinect awareness into Windows applications. The Kinect for Windows SDK gives software developers the ability to create apps that leverage Kinect’s most advanced capabilities, including sound localization, depth and distance interpretation, skeletal tracking, and advanced audio processing.

Microsoft launched Kinect on Oct. 31, 2010 and sold 10 million units in the first six months–the fastest bolt from the gate of any tech gadget, according to Guinness World Records.

Source:http://informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/232500730

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Microsoft Xbox 720 Details Trickle Out?

January 27th, 2012
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The next version of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming and media entertainment console could be up to seven times more powerful than the current edition, according to reports emerging this week.

Citing unnamed sources, several blogs that cover the computer hardware market claim the Xbox 720 will use next-generation processors and graphics chips from IBM and ATI. Specifically, reports suggest the console will use a new, 32-nanometer PowerPC chip called Oban, designed by IBM and produced by IBM and Global Foundries, and an ATI “Southern Islands” GPU.

Industry bloggers claim that the chips are now in production, but most believe they are for development purposes only and that the Xbox 720 will not be available at retail until 2013.

The Xbox 360 uses a triple-core IBM Xenon chip, and an ATI Xenos GPU. Reports indicate the 720 architecture could be seven times as fast. Other reports say the Xbox 720 will include a Blu-Ray disc player and updated version of the Kinect motion control system. Microsoft has not commented on the reports.

It’s also been reported that the Xbox 720 will use some form of copy-protection technology that will prevent users from playing used games, but those reports are also unconfirmed.

While it began life strictly as a gaming console, the Xbox platform has become increasingly strategic for Microsoft. The Xbox Live network serves up movies, music, and cloud services like social networking and messaging. Kinect, meanwhile, is making its way to Windows PCs–paving the way for hands-free scientific, medical, and industrial applications that go well beyond gaming.

Guinness Records recently ranked Kinect as the fastest-selling tech gadget of all time.

The investments are paying off. Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices unit, which houses Xbox products and services, has been one of the company’s strongest performing divisions over the past several quarters. In the most recent three-month period, ended December 31, Xbox platform revenues were up 9%, year-over-year, to about $3.9 billion, according to Microsoft.

The company shipped 8.2 million Xbox 360 consoles during the quarter, compared to 6.3 million last year.

Microsoft launched the first Xbox in late 2001. The Xbox 360 debuted in 2005, making it almost seven years old.

That fact alone is driving much of the speculation about the company’s plans for a successor. There were rumors that Microsoft would go so far as to announce Xbox 720 at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month in Las Vegas, but they turned out to be unfounded.

Source:http://informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/232500541

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Microsoft Releases Windows 8 Tablet Requirements

January 20th, 2012
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Microsoft recently released hardware requirements for tablet computer makers planning to apply Microsoft’s latest cross-platform operating system. The company provided design and hardware features that devices must have to receive Microsoft certification.

The company provided a PDF file that includes all details and other interesting requirements. For example, a Windows 8 tablet device must have “five control buttons” including rotation lock, power, Windows key, volume up and volume down keys.

The company also clarified the “convertible” form factor to convert the tablet computer to a laptop PC. “A convertible form factor is defined as a standalone device that combines the PC, display and rechargeable power source with a mechanically attached keyboard and pointing device in a single chassis,” reports Know Your Mobile.

Display requirements specify that the device must have minimum native resolution/color and its depth must be 1366×768 at a depth of 32bits. Also, its physical dimensions have to match the aspect ratio of the native resolution. Whereas, the display panel’s native resolution can be better than 1366 horizontally and 768 vertically.

The company has not left any aspect untouched and have covered almost everything that is important – and not so important. This list may be found on the Official Microsoft Dev Centre.

Source:http://www.itproportal.com/2012/01/18/microsoft-releases-microsoft-tablet-requirements/

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