Since Natal is essentially a software solution.  Is MS setting themselves up to license the software?

This lines up with MS's previous methods.  They are not really in the hardware business, they are in the software business.  If the tech takes off, and they can license the software easily, they could have another nice revenue stream.  Let hardware manufacturers(Dell, HP) handle the camera stuff, but let MS handle the software.  This could even plug right into the next Windows.

EDIT:  And by third parties, I am not referring to software third parties, I am referring to hardware manufacturing partners of MS.

I doubt that will happen

I don't know, so far MS doesn't have a good track record in making input schemes. Didn't they have some kind of "table PC" thing which flopped?

I don't know what HP or Dell would use Natal for... at least in the form they've shown it.

They have actually developed software for lots of hardware. This would just be the most visible to the public. And I wouldn't call Surface a flop.

And I would consider this a hardware interface.  DirectX would be similar to this.

I know they license a lot of software, but I just don't see a precedent or a reason for Natal to go that way.

Apologies if I'm wrong about Surface, it's just that I haven't heard anything about it for a long time, and these things tend to pop up a lot when they succeed.

Well, HP and Dell were just an example. This could be used by anyone who wanted to plop an IR camera in something. A refrigerater, a tv, pretty much anything. By creating software that can run on a generic processor that needs a relatively small amount of memory, they might be leaving the path open for allowing manufacturers an easy way to create hands free control devices by using MS's already developed system. And this is only if MS's software is better than other IR systems that are already about to be released to the market.

In that scenario, yes. I just think that scenario is highly hypothetical.

But maybe that's just because I don't see any reason for something like Natal to be used to control generic devices like a TV. Yeah you could control a TV using some ridiculous gestures, but a remote control is simple, effective and fool-proof (no changing channels due to making the wrong gesture).

Well, there are already tvs being made with camera technology, I am not sure if they are using IR or not though.

And yes, this is highly hypothetical.  Laptops might have a use for this, businesses might have a use for this(collaborative online meetings, presentations, etc), a single camera in a room might interface with multiple devices.  I don't know, I am not a particularly inventive person, but some might come up with something neat for this.

Interesting, I didn't hear about those TVs with cameras. What are the features the camera will aid?

http://games.venturebeat.com/2009/01/11/ces-does-the-future-of-tv-lie-in-gesture-based-control/