Remember when Microsoft said back in June 2013 that the Kinect sensor that’s bundled with Xbox One won’t be compatible with the PC? Well seems like the company has forgotten about that. Microsoft today launched a new adapter which costs $50 and makes the Xbox One Kinect sensor fully compatible with all PCs and tablets powered by Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
When the Xbox One was released last year it came with Kinect as standard but after a few months of lagging behind Sony in global sales Microsoft decided to unbundle the Kinect sensor from Xbox One, subsequently bringing down the console’s price.
If you have a Kinect sensor lying around, whether you got it with your Xbox One or purchased it for the console later, you can hook it up to a Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 PC or tablet through a USB 3.0 port using the new adapter kit from Microsoft.
It is available for purchase starting today and will initially be available in over two dozen countries around the world, with a total of 41 countries expected to be covered over the coming weeks.
Microsoft also released Kinect 2.0 software development kit for developers which brings more than 200 improvements for the SDK ever since its preview was released earlier this year.