Starting February 1, 2012: Use the Power of Kinect for Windows to Change the World
We're thrilled at the sales we've seen for Kinect - 18 million sold in the past year - and we were honored to receive a Guinness World Record for the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever.
Context & Ripple Effects
Kinect's move toward Windows follows exceptional consumer traction: it reached one million units in its first 10 days and later earned Guinness recognition as the fastest-selling consumer-electronics device. Microsoft had already signaled a Windows-focused path in its November discussion of Kinect for Windows.
Making the hardware available from February 1 turns that momentum into a test of whether a console-born motion interface can attract Windows software development.
First-order effects
- Microsoft will offer Kinect for Windows from February 1, giving Windows developers a supported Kinect product rather than limiting the device's commercial role to Xbox 360.
- Kinect's 18 million-unit consumer run gives Microsoft a large public proof point as it introduces the Windows version.
Second-order effects
- Windows developers become the immediate gatekeepers of Kinect for Windows' usefulness: Microsoft’s hardware expansion needs applications that justify the device outside the Xbox 360 setting.
- The launch broadens Microsoft's incentive to treat Kinect as an interface platform, linking its console hardware success more closely to the Windows developer ecosystem.
Third-order effects
- If developers build sustained Windows uses for Kinect, motion sensing can shift from a console accessory feature toward a cross-platform computing interface controlled by Microsoft's hardware and software ecosystem.
The trend: Microsoft is testing whether a mass-market console peripheral can become a broader Windows input platform through developer adoption.