The second version of Microsoft's Kinect for Windows version 2 sensor is out in the open.
The company, in its blog post on March 27, shares a teaser of the final look of the sensor, hub and power supply for said device.
The sensor looks closely similar to the Kinect for Xbox One, the company stated. Though there are two differences. First, the word Kinect is on top of the panel. Second, the Xbox Nexus has been altered to a simpler power indicator.
For the sensor to work, it needs two other components. These are hub and power supply.
The hub ties everything together and holds three connections: the power, the sensor and the USB 3.0 output to PC. Meanwhile, the power supply is, well, supplier of power required by the sensor to operate. Though the power supply supports 100 to 240 voltages, the power cables vary by region or country.
"As this first look at the Kinect for Windows v2 hardware indicates, we getting closer and closer to launch. So stay tuned for more updates on the next generation of Kinect for Windows," the company also wrote.
The developer program of closed Kinect for Windows v2 had its launch last summer. The program was open to all professional developers and even others who would like to try the Kinect hardware. The applications ended on January 31, 2014.
For the program fee of US$399, Microsoft gave the developers the latest version of the sensor hardware, together with an initial access to its software development kit and a direct access to the engineering team of Kinect for Windows through exclusive webcasts and private forum, among other things.
The developers have been assured as well of a final version of the hardware of Kinect for Windows v2, without having to worry of an additional cost. Selected participants received a Beta device prior to its official launch and experimented on a range of applications for both business and consumers, which could utilize the Kinect updated version.
"So far it is everything Kinect developers and designers have been hoping for - full HD through the color camera and a much improved depth camera as well as USB 3.0 data throughput," said one tester named James Ashley in his blog post.
Ashley also discussed that much processing now occurs on the GPU than the CPU of your computer or the onboard chip. He had a detailed blog review of his trial of the device.
Microsoft officials previously said the Kinect for Windows v2 would be available in the summer of 2014. The company released its first version of Kinect for Windows in early 2012.
