Microsoft confirms Kinect for Windows, launches official website, releases SDK beta

By Adam Rosenberg November 4, 2011

kinect — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s not news that Kinect is coming to Windows. There’s been talk of that since the beginning of the year. All sorts of support from Microsoft ramping up to… well… to pretty much right now. The MSDN Blog celebrates today’s one-year anniversary of the Kinect’s release with the news that Kinect for Windows is an official thing, complete with its own blog (the one linked above) and official website. Beta 2 of the Kinect for Windows SDK is also here, so get to it, developers!

The new SDK offers a number of updates, including “faster skeletal tracking, better accuracy rate when it comes to skeletal tracking and joint recognition, and the ability to plug and unplug your Kinect without losing work/productivity.” The plan from here is to continue rolling out added Kinect for Windows support, with a full commercial launch set for “early 2012.”

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