Kinect for Windows computers arriving on February 1st

[CES 2012] Remember in November last year, Microsoft announced that it would be developing a new version of the Kinect that’s been designed for computers running Windows? Well, we finally have a release date for when the gadget will arrive. Today at Microsoft’s final CES Keynote, the company announced that the Kinect for Windows will be available starting on February 1^st, and will have a suggested retail price of $249. 12 countries will get the new Kinect first – the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain and United Kingdom.

The Kinect SDK (software development kit) will continue to be free, and it will get updates from Microsoft over time. The Kinect for Windows computers will feature some differences such as a shorter USB cable, and the ability for the camera to track objects as close as 50cm in front of it without losing accuracy or precision – which makes using the Kinect on a desktop computer a more viable option. Anybody planning on picking one up?

George Wong
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: CES, CES 2012, Kinect, Microsoft, Windows