Microsoft Kinect Hardware for Windows PC is coming as early as early 2012

Microsoft announced there is Kinect Hardware for Windows PC is coming early 2012. Craig Eisler, General Manager, Kinect for Windows says on Windows Blogs that Kinect is coming early 2012 for Windows PCs. The Kinect hardware will be optimized for Windows PCs.

This is in direct response to the requests made by the developers and pilot customers that are exploring the commercial possibilities of Kinect with PCs. The hardware will be modified a bit  with shorter USB cable and a dongle to enable Kinect to be friends with other USB peripherals that are integrated to the PC and to fit the shorter spaces. The newer firmware will support near modes instead of far mode that supports the current Xbox 360. This near mode will bring a new class of  close-up applications.

He also wrote interesting information about  Natural User Interface as “Another thing we’ve heard from our pilot customers is that companies exploring commercial uses of Kinect want to operate with the assurance of support and future innovation from Microsoft. As part of Microsoft’s deep commitment to NUI, we designed the Kinect for Windows commercial program to give licensed customers access to ongoing updates in both speech and human tracking (where Microsoft has been investing for years), in addition to providing fully supported Kinect hardware for Windows. We’ve been captivated by the countless creative ways companies worldwide envision how their businesses and industries can be revolutionized with Kinect, and are proud to be helping those companies to explore the profound implications NUI has for the future.”

In addition to this new hardware, Microsoft is readying commercial license, which is currently by invitation only, and it will allow the developers and partners to develop and sell commercial applications based on Kinect for Windows SDK. In addition to this new hardware announcement , Microsoft is also readying commercial license for Kinect which will allow developers to sell commercial applications based on Kinect for Windows SDK. The SDK is currently in beta status. You can download Kinect for Windows SDK from here. Microsoft also announced new Kinect Startup accelerator program last week and you can find more information here.

You can read the complete blog here on Windows Blogs.