
How Apple Almost Got Microsoft’s Kinect Game Controller - recoiledsnake
http://www.cultofmac.com/how-apple-almost-got-microsofts-kinect-game-controller/67951
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fname
Maybe it's just me, but I'm not quite sure I follow how they "almost" got it.
Perhaps if they were negotiating numbers and figures and it just fell through
-- I could see that; but just because the initial meetings didn't go so well
or were hung up on NDAs? I don't get it.

EDIT: It is, however, a cool story to tell...

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sudont
> It is, however, a cool story to tell…

Right. _Microsoft : PrimeSense :: Tartars : Joseph Boyce_

If you’re an inventor, it probably doesn’t hurt to have a origin myth. And,
I’m not quite sure if Apple is therefore the Luftwaffe or the lard...

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tgflynn
I had been under the apparently mistaken impression that Microsoft had
developed Kinect in house.

Since Microsoft Research has such a strong computer vision team I'm surprised
that they needed to go to an outside company for this technology.

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brudgers
Based on the Wikipedia entry, Microsoft developed the gesture, voice and
facial recognition software which drives the Kinect.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinect#Technology>

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joeyo
But Primesense developed the depth sensor.
<http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=h0GvAAAAEBAJ>

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shasta
I'm afraid most companies have no idea how much their legal departments, with
all of the bullshit they pile on everyday business transactions, cost them.

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epochwolf
I'm pretty sure the developers have an idea how much is lost.

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ig1
I'm sure most developers have no idea how much money is saved by avoiding
lawsuits.

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czhiddy
What device(s) would Apple even stick the PrimeSense technology in? The 12
watts [1] needed to drive the thing only really makes sense on desktops, and
for what - a weird experimental Minority Report style 3D interface?

[1] [http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/kinect-teardown-two-
camera...](http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/kinect-teardown-two-cameras-four-
microphones-12-watts-of-powe/)

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gcheong
Apple TV maybe? Not built-in but as an add-on controller for the device and
games/apps?

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czhiddy
I'm not sure how small they can make the Kinect hardware - I doubt Steve would
approve of an add-on more than 6 times the size of the Apple TV.

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nitrogen
The image on this page looks like it's about a third of the size of the
Kinect:

<http://www.primesense.com/?p=487>

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pclark
I'd hardly say Apple "almost" got it based on that anecdote.

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brudgers
> _"'Apple is a pain in the ass,' he said, smiling."_

I'm not sure how that becomes "almost," besides, what would Apple do with a
game controller?

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VomisaCaasi
Apple TV comes to my mind...

The Israelis probably did see far more wider uses for this technology, but it
seems to me Microsoft just outbid the others and then marketed this only as a
game controller. Though, I wouldn't be too surprised if we were to see more
uses for this popping up in the next version of Windows or somewhere else.

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brudgers
Given how recently it was realeased, it's hard to say that the rumor of Kinect
coming to Windows has been kicking around for a while. But it wouldn't
surprise anyone at this point:
[http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2011/0120/Is-
Ki...](http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2011/0120/Is-Kinect-
coming-to-Windows)

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contextfree
It's not exactly a "rumor", Gates and Ballmer have been talking up its
eventual PC use since well before the Kinect's release.
[http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/bill-gates-natal-for-
wind...](http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/15/bill-gates-natal-for-windows-
coming-to-an-office-near-you/)

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mcritz
Mythical

