Kinect for Windows – Commercial Release
Microsoft has today released a commercial version of Kinect for Windows.
Kinect for Windows is a specific version of Kinect released only for interfacing Microsoft Kinect with your laptop or desktop with Windows 7. Kinect for Windows is available as a bundle package through Amazon and Microsoft Store for 249$.
Why Microsoft has released another Kinect edition?
Kinect for XBOX 360 are built specifically to interface with XBOX and it has been tweaked to work with XBOX programming API’s. What we realized when we used Kinect Controller for XBOX 360 on a PC, there is little performance difference in it. So Microsoft has made some tweaks to Microsoft Kinect for performance optimization in Windows, and this version of Kinect has been available as Kinect for Windows.
Not only that Microsoft has opt for a Hardware only Business model with Kinect for Windows. We have to get commercial hardware license for Kinect to use it in a commercial environment, but the software to use with it (Kinect SDK for Windows) is been released as FREE.
So you only will have to spend for Buying hardware (Kinect for Windows), and Software license(Kinect SDK for Windows) is free.
The newly released Kinect for Windows hardware is optimized for use with computers and devices running Windows 7, Windows 8 developer preview (desktop applications only), and Windows Embedded-based devices.
Is it confusing for you, the terminologies? Don’t worry I will make it clear.
1. Kinect for Windows – a commercial version of Kinect sensor hardware for using with Windows
2. Kinect SDK for Windows – software for Kinect for Windows( which includes Kinect for Windows Drivers, API’s and Samples etc).
The Bundle and Availability
Kinect for Windows sensor is available as a bundle through amazon and Microsoft Store for Purchase.
The Bundle consists of
- Kinect for Windows sensor
- Manual
- USB/power supply cable
- and 1 year support and software updates
The Kinect for Windows sensor is available in the United States, for a suggested retail price of US $249. You will also be able to purchase Kinect for Window sensors in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom. More countries will be added soon.
Note: The sensor unit does not ship with any software, and will only operate with an application developed for Kinect for Windows.
The Kinect of Windows sensor is intended to be used with the Kinect for Windows SDK and applications developed using the Kinect for Windows SDK and associated runtime software.
The SDK includes drivers, APIs, sample code and more.
Features of Kinect for Windows hardware and SDK
1. Commercial Ready – ready to use for commercial uses
2. Enhanced Sensor – The Kinect for Windows sensor expands the possibilities for innovation with features like Near Mode, which enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 40 centimeters in front of the sensor. In addition, up to 4 Kinect sensors can now be plugged into the same computer.
3. Software Improvements
One of the many improvements to the Kinect for Windows SDK is improved skeletal tracking, which lets developers control which user is being tracked by the sensor. In addition, the latest Microsoft Speech components, along with an improved acoustic model significantly improve speech recognition accuracy.
4. Advanced Speech and audio capabilities
Provide the latest Microsoft Speech components and an updated English Language Pack for improved language recognition accuracy. In addition, the appropriate runtime components are now automatically installed with the runtime installer exe.
5. API Improvements
Enhances consistency and ease of development. New developers should have a much easier time learning how to develop with Kinect for Windows, and all developers will be more productive.
6. Shortening USB cable and small dongle
Ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and improves coexistence with other USB peripherals.
7. Support and software updates
The Kinect for Windows hardware includes a one-year warranty, support, and access to software updates for both speech and human tracking.
Software & Hardware Requirements
Hardware :
- 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- Dual-core 2.66 GHz or faster processor
- Dedicated USB 2.0 bus
- 2 GB RAM
Software :
- Requires operating system is Windows 7 or Windows Embedded Standard 7
Small Update info on Kinect SDK for Windows BETA
The Kinect for Windows SDK beta can only be used with the Kinect for Xbox 360 hardware. Applications built with this hardware and software are for non-commercial development only. To accommodate existing non-commercial deployments using the SDK beta and the Kinect for Xbox 360 hardware, the beta license is being extended to June 16, 2016. Developers are encouraged to download the Kinect for Windows SDK, which was released February 1, 2012. This SDK provides additional features and updates.
This post is prepared based on the information available on http://www.KinectforWindows.org, if you would like to know more on Kinect for Windows please visit the Kinect for Windows website.
Where to Purchase Kinect for Windows hardware ?
Download the Kinect for Windows SDK
Resources on Kinect for Windows hardware and SDK
FAQ’s on Kinect for Windows – SDK
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Kinect SDK for Windows–Version 1.0 Released
The Kinect for Windows SDK enables developers to create applications that support gesture and voice recognition, using Kinect sensor technology on computers running Windows 7, Windows Embedded Standard 7, and Windows 8 Developer Preview (desktop applications only).
The Kinect for Windows SDK includes the following:
- Drivers, for using Kinect sensor devices on a computer running Windows 7, Windows Embedded Standard 7, and Windows 8 Developer Preview (desktop applications only)
- Application programming interfaces (APIs) and device interfaces, along with technical documentation
- Source code samples
DOWNLOAD Kinect SDK for Windows – Version 1.0 – (226MB) (1 February 2012)
Referenced from Kinect for Windows Website, more information available at
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/kinectforwindows/develop/overview.aspx
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Update for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 (KB2635973)
Microsoft has released an update for Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1. This update will address a crash in localized versions of Visual Studio 2010 SP1 that may occur when opening a Visual Studio Solution.
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Introducing KendoUI Mobile from Telerik (HTML5 Mobile Tools/Widgets for Development)
KendoUI Mobile is a set of Reusable HTML5/Javascript widgets or tools for Mobile Web Application development. KendoUI is made available for Commercial(PAID) and Open use on Certain licensing conditions from Telerik.
(Logo Courtesy: KendoUI.com)
KendoUI is a suite of new HTML5 Controls from Telerik. Telerik is a pioneer in .NET based reusable controls and other project management tools. Telerik provides readily available reusable components for different technologies such as Telerik .NET UI Controls for Silverlight, ASP.NET, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET AJAX, WinForms, WPF, Windows Phone etc . KendoUI is a new introduction by Telerik targetting HTML5 application development.
KendoUI Suite Consists of 3 packages
1. KendoUI Web – for building HTML5 based desktop web applications
2. KendoUI Mobile – for building HTML5 based mobile web applications
3. KendoUI DataWiz – for building HTML5 based data visualization applications.
Kendo UI combines everything needed for modern JavaScript development, including a powerful DataSource, universal Drag-and-Drop, Templates, Themes, and UI Widgets.
What is special about KendoUI Mobile?
There are different other HTML5 based mobile application frameworks in the market, such as jQueryMobile, PhoneGap, Titanium, Sencha Touch.
jQuery Mobile: is a jQuery based HTML5 mobile web application framework and it provides consistent look and feel in all the supported platforms.
PhoneGap: which helps us to build Hybrid mobile applications (Half Native, Half Hybrid) using HTML5 and Javascript.
Sencha Touch: based on ExtJS (a popular javascript library, similar to jQuery), helps us in building HTML5 based mobile web applications provides native friendly appearance in target devices.
Titanium: Similar to PhoneGap but the end outcome would be native applications. Development will be done using HTML5 and JavaScript. End result will be a native application, underlying framework will convert javascript and HTML5 based syntax in to Native programming language and builds the output.
KendoUI Mobile? new addition to the mobile Web bandwagon using HTML5. As per Telerik, KendoUI Mobile provides native friendly look and feel on iOS and Android platforms( Unfortunately Version 1.0 of KendoUI Mobile will only target iOS and Android based appearance).
Taken from Kendo UI Website
- Native UI widgets for building HTML5-powered apps and sites for modern mobile devices.
- Making your mobile user interface touch responsive and with native look and feel.
Native UI on Every Device
Kendo UI Mobile helps developers build apps and sites for mobile devices that always look native. On iOS, Kendo UI Mobile widgets look native to iOS. On Android, Kendo UI Mobile widgets look native to Android. Automatically. Kendo UI Mobile detects the device and applies the proper styling.
Ready for App Stores
Easily build native-looking apps with Kendo UI Mobile and then deploy them through popular mobile app stores using packaging tools like PhoneGap. Get all of the benefits of native apps without any of the pain of writing the same app multiple times.
iOS, Android, and Beyond
In the first version, Kendo UI Mobile will provide UI widgets that match the theming and functionality of native controls available for iOS, Android and BlackBerry development, including buttons, navigation, and lists. With Kendo UI’s flexible styling system, developers can further customize Kendo UI Mobile themes easily to match any environment.
Personally I haven’t try anything using KendoUI or done a comparison amongst other Mobile Web Development platforms out there. Thus I will not give my take on the comparison of features etc. My idea about this post would be making you familiar about new offering from telerik – the Kendo UI.
KendoUI Mobile is recently released as Version 1.0 Beta, which provides Early Adopters to take a look at the new offering from telerik.
KendoUI is going to be a new interesting pet for all Telerik product adopters and developers. Hope to see more offerings from Telerik soon. Hope future Versions of KendoUI Mobile will have more platform support such as Blackberry, Bada, Windows Phone, Symbian etc. It is a relatively new product, way to go before it reaches it’s real momentum. But a very good offering from telerik.
Know more about Kendo UI visit http://www.kendoui.com/mobile
and also have a look at the nice demo put up by Kendo UI. http://demos.kendoui.com/mobile/overview/index.html
http://demos.kendoui.com/dataviz/overview/index.html
http://demos.kendoui.com/web/overview/index.html
Ref & Courtesy: Telerik, KendoUI Website
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Windows Azure & Cloud9 IDE for Node.js
Cloud9 IDE offers a cross-platform, browser-based development environment for Node.js. It is one of the de-facto tools for Node developers today. Cloud9 runs completely in the browser, and it’s available to developers working on any OS. In the second part of his keynote, Scott demonstrated using Cloud9 IDE on a Mac to build and deploy an application to Azure.
With Cloud9 IDE you can easily create a new Node application, connect it to your Windows Azure account, and deploy. Cloud9 makes it easier for you by packaging up source, creating your hosted service, and publishing the package. It supports publishing to Staging and Production and offers Windows Azure portal integration. Combining that with Cloud9′s integration with distributed version control providers like GitHub and BitBucket offers a fantastic experience!
Below you can see a screenshot of the new Cloud9 experience.
This content is referenced from http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2012/01/24/windows-azure-and-cloud9-ide-at-node-summit.aspx
Read more about CloudIDE through below links
http://cloud9ide.posterous.com/windows-azure-on-cloud9
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/interoperability/archive/2012/01/24/microsoft-at-node-summit.aspx
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