Microsoft is all set to embrace a few changes in 2015, starting with scrapping the sales of original Kinect sensors for Windows PC in 2015.
As revealed by the Redmond-based tech giant, the company has decided to stop selling the original Kinect sensors for Windows PC in order to maintain an unshared focus on supporting Kinect for Windows v2. Unlike its predecessor, this new hardware is based on the Xbox One Kinect sensor. Microsoft says that will be that for the first generation sensor once it goes out of stock.
"In October, we shipped the public release of the Kinect for Windows v2 sensor and its software development kit (SDK 2.0). The availability of the v2 sensor and SDK 2.0 means that we will be phasing out the sale of the original Kinect for Windows sensor in 2015," the team said.
"The original Kinect for Windows sensor was a milestone achievement in the world of natural human computing. It allowed developers to create solutions that broke through the old barriers of mouse and keyboard interactions, opening up entirely new commercial experiences in multiple industries, including retail, education, healthcare, education, and manufacturing," the Kinect for Windows team stated via its blog.
"The original Kinect let preschoolers play educational games by simply moving their arms; it coached patients through physical rehabilitation; it gave shoppers new ways to engage with merchandise and even try on clothes. The list of innovative solutions powered by the original Kinect for Windows goes on and on," it added.
Microsoft previously released the original Kinect for Windows and its software development kit for PC back in February 2012. At that time, the motion sensing device from the company was being sold for $249.
