Microsoft is still Microsoft. Despite Apple’s dominating brand and their ability to steal headlines — iPhone 5 and iPad 3 come to mind — the creative brains at Microsoft have been busy themselves, for example lining up Xbox TV for the holiday season.

However, the next big feather in Microsoft’s collective hat will launch in 2012, as the technology giant announced that Kinect will be coming the Windows operating system.

Craig Eisler, Kinect for Windows General Manager, had this to say about the next phase.

"It all started with a revolutionary sensor and amazing software that turned voice and movement into magic. With that magical combination, last year the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft showed the world how to re-imagine gaming.  This year, we’re showing the world how to re-imagine entertainment.  Next year, with Kinect for Windows, we will help the world re-imagine everything else."

Microsoft is launching a Kinect for Windows website that will keep users updated on the status of the project as well as releasing Beta 2 of the Kinect for Windows SDK. Eisler has been very supportive and forthcoming about the Kinect platform, commenting on how it has helped developers in fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing, retail, and of course gaming.

Microsoft currently has over 200 companies participating in the pilot program, telling the industry giant how Kinect will help them transform their products, processes, brand - their entire business. Eisler commented more on how these companies can use Kinect in the work place.

"Putting the power of Kinect + Windows into the hands of business leaders and technical visionaries will give them the tools they need to develop novel solutions for everything from training employees to visualizing data, from configuring a car to managing an assembly line."

Microsoft’s updated software development kit that is being released today includes new features for the user when using Kinect, such as faster skeletal tracking, better accuracy rate when it comes to skeletal tracking and joint recognition - and the ability to plug and unplug the Kinect without losing work/productivity.

How will you use Kinect for Windows? What cool business implications would you like to see?

Kinect for Windows will launch early 2012.

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Source: Microsoft