NEW YORK: Microsoft will stop selling the original Kinect for Windows in 2015 now that the second generation of the motion-based controller platform is available.
In a blog post, Microsoft advised enterprises that need large numbers of the old systems for existing applications to contact the company as soon as possible.
“We will do our best to fill your orders, but no more original sensors will be manufactured after the current stock sells out,” the Kinect for Windows Team wrote in the post.
The phase-out of the original product doesn’t come as a surprise, since Microsoft introduced the Kinect for Windows v2 and a second-generation software development kit, SDK 2.0, earlier this year.
Kinect for Windows brought motion-based interaction technology to PCs and tablets, offering new ways of controlling applications beyond the typical mouse and keyboard. Kinect senses depth using twin cameras and can interpret movements and gestures.
Kinect for Windows v2 adds full 1080p video, an expanded field of view and better body tracking, among other improvements, according to Microsoft.
Gamers were the first to use Kinect when it was introduced for the Xbox 360 console in 2010. The technology has since been applied to uses in health care, retail, manufacturing and other fields.
