Kinect For Windows Releasing On February 1 155
clinko writes "Microsoft has announced that the new Kinect for Windows hardware and accompanying software will be available on February 1st, 2012 in 12 countries, at a suggested retail price of US $249 ($149 for edu). Microsoft has chosen a hardware-only business model for Kinect for Windows; they will not be charging for the SDK or the runtime. These will be available free to developers and end-users respectively."
Re:Why So expensive? (Score:5, Informative)
The final version of the SDK will only work with Kinect for Windows hardware (meanwhile the Beta version license will be extended by 3 years and will continue to work with normal Kinect). Kinect for Windows will feature Near Mode as well.
If you want officially supported SDK you need Kinect for Windows. That's the deal.
Meanwhile the oompa loompas are suiciding (Score:0, Informative)
Mass Suicide Threats at Foxconn Xbox 360 Plant
http://cryptogon.com/?p=26902 [cryptogon.com]
January 11th, 2012
"Foxconn has a plan to deal with these pesky meatsacks, and I donâ(TM)t mean suicide prevention nets.
Foxconn Wants to Build âoeIntelligent Robotics Kingdomâ to Replace Human Workers with Robots
Foxconn: 1 Million Robots in 3 Years
Via: Kotaku:
On Jan. 2, over 300 employees at a Foxconn plant in Wuhan, China threatened to throw themselves off a building in a mass suicide. Foxconn makes Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony products. These workers manufacture Xbox 360s.
According to Chinese anti-government website China Jasmine Revolution (via Watch China Times), the workers were protesting denied compensation they were promised.
On Jan. 2, the workers asked for a raise. Foxconn told them they could either keep their jobs with no pay increase or quit and get compensation. Most decided to quit with compensation. However, the agreement was supposedly terminated, and the workers never received their payments.
Website Record China reported that the uproar the incident actually caused Xbox 360 production to be temporarily suspended.
The mayor of Wuhan intervened to talk the group down, and on Jan. 3 at 9pm, the group of 300 decided not to jump, ending what could have been a deadly game of chicken."
- http://kotaku.com/5874706/report-mass-suicide-threats-at-xbox-360-plant [kotaku.com]
- http://cryptogon.com/?p=23829 [cryptogon.com]
- http://cryptogon.com/?p=25875 [cryptogon.com]
- http://cryptogon.com/?p=17613 [cryptogon.com]
Microsoft, where's your TV commercial for THIS?
Re:Have you heard of eviacam ? (Score:2, Informative)
Well, that's not really what a Kinect is.
Basically, you are comparing a web camera to a combination of: web camera, infrared based depth sensor with a CMOS camera, and a multi-array microphone. That's a whole lot more data than your average webcam provides. Especially the depth sensor really makes a significant difference; the distinguishing ability to determine points in 3D space has spawned a number of rather interesting possibilities. Heck, I even saw some guy on youtube use his Kinect to create 3D maps of his environment (along with textures). Try achieving that with eviacam.
Now, we could also throw in all the software features from eviacam and pit them against Kinect's abilities to detect human beings, their joints, and track their every movement in 3D space.
Mind you, I am not really a big fan of Kinect either (I don't even own one, never have), but you are basically not really making a fair comparison there.
Re:Why So expensive? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Why So expensive? (Score:5, Informative)
The PC version of Kinect is also a new version of the hardware, and it can be used accurately at 1/2 meter range. See: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kinectforwindows/archive/2011/11/22/kinect-for-windows-building-the-future.aspx [msdn.com]