Wow, thanks, I was wondering how much the new Kinect 2 for PC would be.  I know they said on the SDK for Kinect 1.0 ($250) that they were heavily subsidizing it on the Xbox 360.  I think that was more the research than the actual hardware.  I know they have heavy invested in their ‘Natural User Interface’ or NUI.

Kinect 2.0 is a major increase in hardware.  I am looking forward to what they do with it.  I spent some of the holiday with the kids requesting to play Kinect Party.  I am surprised Microsoft hasn’t toted more games for the new Kinect.

Figgycal said:



drkohler said:




Figgycal said:

 If I had to guess how much kinect costs alone I'd say between 100-130 dollars.




Kinect for windows is supposedly out sometimes next year for $399. Gives you an idea how far off you are with your estimate...






Well damn - i was thinking since you need kinect to even use the xbox, they'd make it more affordable for the xbox one. I don't think they'd be that cruel. Plus selling kinect for 400 would mean they could be losing between 2 to 3 hundred dollars per unit because they're bundling kinect 2 in there. I don't think that's the case.

That $399 is not just for the retail model, but for a software developer's kit that gets you a debug model, a retail model, Microsoft's programming APIs, and unlimited access to their technical support and developer forums. Completely different ball game.

The retail unit on its own will likely be in line with the launch price of the original Kinect.

I think one of the significant reasons is that they're making the ability for Kinect to act in a security role. 

Currently an ID is tied to the password and user ID.  With Kinect that can also be tied to my voice and face.  Or in the case of Xbox One, the only means to directly access my account from a console.  On one hand it gives you, the individual, the security in knowing that your account can't be accessed by anyone but you.  I should mention, your profile is also stored online, including your avatar, and Kinect profile.  Not only has Microsoft mentioned this, there is also a Patent they hold for it.  For Microsoft, it gives them the security that the person using the account is the person who it belongs to.

This way, when you step in front of the Xbox One, it knows it's you, brings up your profile, messages, and contacts.  You may think they didn't need to do that, but I think they wanted log-ins as seemless as possible so you could get to gaming or whatever else it is you do more quickly.  And considering it's intended more for a diverse family, rather than just a single individual, that would be a beneficial feature as opposed to having a password/code and possibly having to log someone else out before you can log in. 

It may seem like an unimportant feature, and possibly to you it may be, but seemless is a stated goal.  The console isn't designed to put barriers between you and what you want to do.  The UI redesign, Auto-Login/recognition with Kinect, Cloud Storage, etc all designed to offer a seemless experience. 

I'm not sure the Kinect 2 Windows SDK will be $400. The Kinect 2 Early Adopter SDK will be $400. However that $400 includes not only the initial Kinect 2 sensor, but also the release model.

The most expensive part of the Kinect 2 is the depth sensor. It's proprietary, Microsoft is the only ones who own the technology as they got it when they bought 3DS, and I'm guessing it likely uses technology they got when they bought Canesta. Since CMOS depth sensor technology is what Canesta was known for.

I'd be surprised if the final release Kinect 2 Windows SDK is $400.