With the availability of the Kinect for Windows v2 now in swing since it was publically released in October, Microsoft has announced that it will be soon discontinuing the original Kinect for Windows at some point in 2015.
Detailed in a blog post, the company will be phasing out the Kinect for Windows sensor dues to the successor being superior hardware. That being said, the original Kinect for Windows has offered up a lot to those who used it, such as bringing about educational games that would allow play through simple limb movement and “ opening up entirely new commercial experiences in multiple industries, including retail, education, healthcare, education, and manufacturing.”
The Kinect for Windows v2 sports “a host of new and improved features,” such as enhanced tracking, full 1080p HD video, new infrared capabilities and a wider field of view. Its accompanying software (SDK 2.0) also supports improvements and enhancements, one of which allows for developers to create and publish Kinect-supported Windows Store apps.
“The response of the developer community to Kinect v2 has been tremendous: Every day we are seeing amazing apps built on the capabilities of the new sensor and SDK, and since we released a public beta of SDK 2.0 in July, the community has been telling us that porting their original solutions over to v2 is smoother and faster than expected,” Microsoft stated.
However, some buyers may not be happy that the original Kinect for Windows is being discontinued, as some developers may still have commitments to that particular hardware. Microsoft has acknowledged this, and advises those who are business customers that “ need a significant number of original Kinect for Windows sensors” to contact the company as soon as possible.
This will be a “while stocks last” scenario, so whilst Microsoft will do its best to fulfill purchase orders, no more original Kinect for Windows sensors will be manufactured once the current stock depletes.
[ Source(s): Kinect for Windows ]
[ Via: PC Gamer ]