I think this is a great step for Microsoft. I believe they've learned a lot from the good PR that Android has received due in part to Androids large and outspoken developer community. I'm sure Microsoft has also noticed a lot of the negativity surrounding Motorola and their decision to lock down boot loaders (effectively removing any developers chance to mess with the phone). That and the mess that Sony has created by suing the people who hacked the PS3.
Microsoft also deserve credit for landing PrimeSense's technology in the first place (the tech that powers the Kinect.) Apple were so awkward with legal wrangling and NDAs that they missed out, even though PrimeSense approached them first.
... he’d [PrimeSense's CEO] already had several meetings at Apple. It was the first place he and his engineers thought of. “It was the most natural place for the technology,” he said.
Apple has a history of interface innovation, of course, and had recently introduced the iPhone with its paradigm-shifting multitouch UI. PrimeSense’s system went one step further: It was multitouch that you didn’t even have to touch. Apple seemed like a natural fit.
Yet the initial meetings hadn’t gone so well. Obsessed with secrecy, Apple had already asked Beracha to sign a stack of crippling legal agreements and NDAs.
He shook his head. Why didn’t he want to do a deal with Apple? No need. The technology was hot. He could sell it to anyone.
It's ironic, but Microsoft almost always supported products that reverse engineered their software. One of our products was based on internals research and we received a proposal from their QA team to test our product in Windows 7.
If I remember well, the Samba team had issues in the past with this practice, and also the activesync protocol is jealously protected (and licensed to Google).
It's probably a factor that Kinect hardware is sold at a profit and that they have plenty of supply, so someone buying a Kinect to hack with on their PC (1) isn't making Microsoft lose money, and (2) isn't depriving a gamer of one.
I don't know if Sony ever got the PS3 to the point that the consoles are profitable by themselves.
Another factor is that Kinect hacking is unlikely to lead to game cheating. It's just an input device. The code that does the processing for the games is in the software on the XBox, and they have locked that down tight.
With the PS3, since it is the PS3 itself that is being hacked, I would expect that there is a lot more potential for using the hacks to cheat in online games--something that does hurt Sony financially.
I think Microsoft has been dragged into this and they aren't embracing it nearly quick enough. Primesense has been distributing an open source sdk for a while now http://www.openni.org/ and Microsoft want to keep some control of the device. They still haven't allowed any indie developer access to the Kinect on the Xbox and they are in danger of completely blowing the potential of the device as the next paradigm of people interacting with computers in their living rooms.
This is a great move by Microsoft. Not only will they get free development on their platform, this will cement the Kinect as the next major gaming device. If only Sony could see the benefits of allowing an open SDK on their platform.
Very happy about this. Was thinking of picking up a Kinect when the original hackers made a USB driver and started an SDK. Decided to wait and I'm so glad Microsoft is actually pushing it like this. Would love to see it all tied in to Visual Studio and/or XNA.
I wonder how their motion tracking compares with PrimeSense's OpenNI and NITE. Does anybody know if this SDK provides full access to player tracking and gesture information, or is it basically like libfreenect, allowing access to the raw data?
It was my understanding that Microsoft doesn't use PrimeSense's gesture and motion tracking software, but instead wrote their own. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I read that.
I googled a bit, but wasn't able to find any corroborating evidence. Please post it here when/if you find it. In any case, it will be interesting to compare the APIs when MS releases theirs.
This is great news! Would there be interest from hackers to participate in a competition to spur open-sourced innovation for the Kinect when the SDK comes out?
More 'coolness' from Microsoft. While I never 'hated' them, this is really feeling odd. Hope they'll stay that way and can make Windows Phone attractive as well.
Hell, if they keep on like this, maybe even Windows will be 'cool' one day. So confusing!
As an app developer this is great news... can't wait to see some of the innovative uses that come out of this. The demo video released earlier this week of kinect/windows phone 7 integration was a great first step.
This act of coolness on the part of Microsoft makes my head hurt. I can't correlate "Microsoft" with "smart decision" anymore. I need an advil.
On a serious note: this is a really good way to stick it to Sony too, since they're going after GeoHot and making themselves look like assholes doing it.
I love Apple - I have tons of their crap. But the genius they have historically shown at attracting developers has been lacking of late. And of all the competitors to pick up that mantle, Microsoft?
Apple's been doing this for a long time. Plenty of developers that got started in the jailbroken space have since gotten developer licenses and moved to the app store. The economic incentives are much better at larger scales.
So, kudos to Microsoft.