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First Look: Microsoft moves Kinect to Windows Mobiles Bernard Cole Seattle, Wash. – Microsoft Corp. is developing hardware to bring its Kinect gesture interface to Windows and has launched a competition that will give $20,000 to the best ten startups with ideas for using Kinect for Windows. Microsoft is also extending in 2012 the Kinect gesture interface from its Xbox 360 console to PCs, and has rolled out a beta software developer's kit for Kinect for Windows and launched a Web site for the project. Kinect breathed new life into the Xbox 360 and Microsoft generally which had fallen behind Apple and its Android rivals who pioneered touch-screen interfaces in smartphones and tablets. Microsoft has enabled a "near mode" for Kinect, allowing "the depth camera to see objects as close as 50 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation down to 40 centimeters, one of the most requested Kinect features. Such a mode could make possible alternatives for keyboards and mice for navigating PCs, tablets and smartphones. Microsoft has shortened the USB cable for Kinect to ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and included a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals." Vendors who license Microsoft's Kinect for Windows program will get access to Microsoft's ongoing updates in both speech and human tracking, the former one of the pet projects of co-founder Bill Gates, but to date has not had much to show for its work. This may change with the introduction by Apple of speech recognition capabilities for its iPhone 4S based on its acquisition of startup Siri. The new Kinect Accelerator program will give 10 tech-oriented companies using Kinect (on either Windows or Xbox360) an investment of $20,000 each, plus a number of other great perks. Applications are being accepted through January 25. Microsoft is planning an event that will let winners demo their products for potential investors. To learn more, go to www.microsoft.com.
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