Steve Ballmer's performance at Microsoft's final CES opening keynote this year may have been roundly criticised by the media, but Kinect for PCs stands to make huge waves.
Microsoft's presence at CES this year has been surrounded by so much cynical flak that at times it's been hard to penetrate the blogger-fed doom and gloom and come away with anything tactile announcements-wise. Firstly there was the general fugue laid down by the revelation last year that 2012's opening CES keynote, in a sign of a shifting industry, would be the final one hosted by Microsoft (which has held -- and paid for -- the slot for some 15 years). This has been followed by a near universal panning this week of Steve Ballmer's typically eccentric presentation itself, with most critics focusing on questionable stage gimmicks (such as the widely derided "tweet choir") and a palpable lack of significant or new announcements, as the company largely used the event to reel off previously seen demos and messaging.
"Enthused": Steve Ballmer onstage at CES 2012. (image: Microsoft)
But amid the hubbub, Ballmer and Microsoft did reveal one salient detail this week: Kinect for Windows is launching in just a few short weeks on February 1. The Windows release, which
Microsoft has been developing in the shadow of its hugely successful Xbox 360 counterpart (selling 18 million units in the past year), has huge potential to alter how users interact with PCs and peripherals in both domestic settings and industrial applications. The device, which will simultaneously go on sale in Australia and 11 other countries with a "suggested retail price of US$249", comes with a one-year warranty and ongoing software updates. Academic pricing at US$149 for educational users will become available later in the year.
Little is currently known about any third party software that will support the technology in the short term, but Microsoft, clearly eager to generate what could be a significant new app platform for Windows, is at pains to get developers on board with its free Kinect for Windows SDK. As Craig Eisler, General Manager, Kinect for Windows, said this week on the
Kinect for Windows blog: "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... We are excited for the new possibilities that Kinect will enable on the Windows platform, and to see how businesses and developers reimagine their processes and their products, and the many different ways each Kinect could enrich lives and make using technology more natural for everyone."
