Kinect for Windows Available on February 1

Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 January 2012 12:10 Written by admin Tuesday, 10 January 2012 12:09

At the end of this month, Windows users in 12 markets worldwide will be able to start buying Kinect for Windows. That’s right, a new flavor of the NUI (natural user interface) sensor tailored to Windows PCs, a newer version of Kinect for Xbox 360, which already sold in excess of 18 million units.
 
In case you didn’t watch Steve Ballmer’s CES 2012 keynote address, this was the only piece of news worthwhile.
 
We are announcing that the new Kinect for Windows hardware and accompanying software will be available on February 1st, 2012 in 12 countries (United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom), at a suggested retail price of US $249. Kinect for Windows hardware will be available, in limited quantities at first, through a variety of resellers and distributors. The price includes a one-year warranty, access to ongoing software updates for both speech and human tracking, and our continued investment in Kinect for Windows-based software advancements. Later this year, we will offer special academic pricing (planned at US $149) for Qualified Educational Users.
 
We love the innovation we have seen built using Kinect for Xbox 360 – this has been a source of inspiration and delight for us and compelled us to create a team dedicated to serving this opportunity.   We are proud to bring technology priced in the tens of thousands of dollars just a few years ago to the mainstream at extremely low consumer prices. And although Kinect for Windows is still value-priced for the technology, some will ask us why it isn’t the same price as Kinect for Xbox.
 
The ability to sell Kinect for Xbox 360 at its current price point is in large part subsidized by consumers buying a number of Kinect games, subscribing to Xbox LIVE, and making other transactions associated with the Xbox 360 ecosystem. In addition, the Kinect for Xbox 360 was built for and tested with the Xbox 360 console only, which is why it is not licensed for general commercial use, supported or under warranty when used on any other platform.
 
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, starting with “near mode” (see my earlier blog post for more about this). In addition to support for Windows 7 and the Windows 8 developer preview (desktop apps only), Kinect for Windows will also support gesture and voice on Windows Embedded-based devices and will enhance how data is captured and accessed within intelligent systems across manufacturing, retail and many more industries. We are building the Kinect for Windows platform in a way that will allow other companies to integrate Kinect into their offerings and we have invested in an approach that allows them to develop in ways that are dependable and scalable.
 
We have chosen a hardware-only business model for Kinect for Windows, which means that we will not be charging for the SDK or the runtime; these will be available free to developers and end-users respectively. As an independent developer, IT manager, systems integrator, or ISV, you can innovate with confidence knowing that you will not pay license fees for the Kinect for Windows software or the ongoing software updates, and the Kinect for Windows hardware you and your customers use is supported by Microsoft.
 
Although we encourage all developers to understand and take advantage of the additional features and updates available with the new Kinect for Windows hardware and accompanying software, those developers using our SDK and the Kinect for Xbox 360 hardware may continue to use these in their development activities if they wish. However, non-commercial deployments using Kinect for Xbox 360 that were allowed using the beta SDK are not permitted with the newly released software. Non-commercial deployments using the new runtime and SDK will require the fully tested and supported Kinect for Windows hardware and software platform, just as commercial deployments do. Existing non-commercial deployments using our beta SDK may continue using the beta and the Kinect for Xbox 360 hardware; to accommodate this, we are extending the beta license for three more years, to June 16, 2016.
 
We expect that as Kinect for Windows hardware becomes readily available, developers will shift their development efforts to Kinect for Windows hardware in conjunction with the latest SDK and runtime. The combination of Kinect for Windows hardware and software creates a superior development platform for Windows and will yield a higher quality, better performing experience for end users.
 
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.
 
Craig Eisler
General Manager, Kinect for Windows

Windows 8 Beta Build 8200 Ready by the End of January 2012

Last Updated on Sunday, 8 January 2012 09:59 Written by admin Saturday, 7 January 2012 11:32

Microsoft has yet to wrap up the first Beta development of Windows 8. WinUnleaked claims that Windows 8 will continue to be in pre-Beta stage for the better part of January 2012.

It appears that Microsoft will only push Windows 8 into Beta Escrow sometime after January 23rd. The Beta Escrow Build s will only be decided around January 21st.

It’s going to take Microsoft almost a week, from the 23rd to 28th, to decide on the final build and then sign off the Beta.

Provided that no blockers are identified during Escrow, Windows 8 Beta will be compiled and demoed internally on January 30th.

The official zip Windows 8 Beta will feature a Build string such as: 8200.winmain_win8b1.

3 Reasons Why Windows Phone Has Not Taken Off

Last Updated on Tuesday, 3 January 2012 11:39 Written by Mire_B Tuesday, 3 January 2012 11:34

Former Microsoft Windows Phone General Manager Charlie Kindel said sometime last year that carriers and device makers are responsible for Windows Phone’s moderate, to use an euphemism, success.

You see, Microsoft is the good guy in the WP story. The company is battling device makers and imposing strict hardware requirements for Windows Phone. And at the same time it’s holding carriers on a tight leash and not letting them run wild with the platform.

The result? Both OEMs and carriers have little love for Microsoft.

“Apple has been successful (at least in terms of generating revenue) in this space by cutting the device manufacturer out. They have then used that fact to force the carriers into being even more of a fat dumb pipe. A topic for another day, but my belief is over time this strategy will start to deteriorate for Apple.

 

Google has been wildly successful with Android (at least in terms of units) because Android was built to reduce friction between all sides of the market. It ‘bows down’ to the device manufactures AND the carriers. It enabled device manufactures to do what they do best (build lots of devices). It enabled carriers to do what they do best (market lots of devices). It enabled users tons of choice. My hypothesis is that it also enables too much fragmentation that will eventually drive end users nuts.

 

With Windows Phone Microsoft has taken a different approach. WP raises its middle finger at both the device manufacturers and mobile carriers. WP says “here’s the hardware spec you shalt use” (to the device manufacturers). And it says “Here’s how it will be updated” (to the carriers).

 

Thus both of those sides of the market are reluctant. Especially the carriers, but also the device manufacturers. Remember that end users are highly influenced by advertising and RSPs. Carriers own the marketing money and spend billions a year. The money is provided by the other sides of the market: OS providers & device manufactures, but the carriers get to spend it; they are the aggregation point where the money actually gets spent. The carriers choose what devices get featured on those TV ads. They also choose what devices to train their RSP (retail sales professionals) to push. They choose to incent the RSPs to push one device over another.

 

This is why, despite being a superior PRODUCT to Android, Windows Phone has not sold as well. Spending marketing dollars on advertising Android devices is and easy decision for the carriers. Pushing RSPs to push Android is easy.

 

Spending marketing dollars advertising WP7 requires Microsoft to push hard on the carriers. Getting RSPs to push WP7 requires Microsoft to push hard on the carriers to incent their RSPs correctly.”

Here are a few of my own reasons why Windows Phone is failing to really gain traction with consumers worldwide:

No iPhone killer

The one thing that Microsoft and its OEM partners should have created is the ultimate device, the iPhone killer. I don’t think that there was a single customer not expecting the anti-iPhone from Nokia. Instead they got the two Lumia handsets, brilliant only in their mediocrity.

But it must be very hard getting OEMs to build you an iPhone killer when you’re busy alienating them with countless patent violation lawsuits and intellectual property infringement blackmail.

Now, just to be clear, every big tech company is using the same arsenal as Microsoft, Apple included. But some, such as Apple can afford to sue left and right. Others, less so.

No love from geeks

Hardcore geeks hate Microsoft. This is as axiomatic as it is gratuitous. Microsoft hate is so strong that some geeks are ready, willing and perfectly able to content to using an inferior product just because it’s not a product of the Redmond software giant.

And you know who consumers listen to before they even get in the store for salespersons to push whatever device they prefer to down their throats? Well, they ask their geeky friends what’s their best option.

I guarantee that today, the vast majority of geeks would recommend that their less tech savvy friends buy anything else but Windows Phone.

Windows is no longer cool. Windows Mobile never was. Windows Phone is in a coolness limbo.

iPhone is cool. Google is cool, and almost everything it touches turns cool as well.

Windows is not cool. And Microsoft is as cool as a bluescreen, or a blackscreen, or endless crash loops, or Windows Vista (ouch! But true!). Windows Phone is in a coolness limbo.

People don’t buy iPhones because they’re cool, they camp out for days in front of Apple stores to get devices that are arguably minor updates to the ones they already have.

And if Google makes using the Internet as cool as google.com, then how cool would a mobile OS from this company be? A whole lot of consumers are crowding to find out.

Windows Phone has no coolness factor to give it an extra edge. None to speak of. And for so many, Windows is still synonymous with crashes and bluescreens, with viruses, with Internet Explorer, with Vista. Bleah… Who would really want that on their device? It doesn’t matter that it’s not true. Perception beats reality once again, imagine the surprise.

Please don’t make me explain this coolness thing. If you disagree leave a comment. If you dare say that Microsoft is cool, leave a comment.

You know what being cool is all about? It’s about going into a store with a single thought in your mind, and whatever the carrier ads said, whatever the salespersons are telling you, buying a Windows Phone or opting to use a land line, because that’s the only conceivable alternative for you.