

Microsoft Makes It Easier to Hack the Kinect - terio
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37836/?p1=A3&a=f

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unkoman
The Beta SDK FAQ is chock full of interesting issues, including:

Not being able to distribute applications standalone, users must also download
SDK to get the runtimes No commercial use, and on top of that, due to the fact
that MS cannot predict the usage of the kinect SDK, all SDK derived
applications should not be considered “allowed under the SDK”. Microsoft owns
the right to say what software you can use the hardware with, and using the
kinect with anything outside of the SDK is not allowed. Even with this wording
in place, the MSDN Channel 9 launch video lauded all of the open source
applications currently available for the kinect. The SDK will not run on
Virtual Machines

Source: [http://www.nonpolynomial.com/2011/06/16/console-controls-
usa...](http://www.nonpolynomial.com/2011/06/16/console-controls-usage-and-
the-kinect-sdk/)

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wccrawford
The no-standalone bit is just like the rest of MS's DirectX and whatnot. I'm
not sure why that would be a surprise.

The rest is annoying, though. Maybe they'll see the light, or maybe they'll
just be replaced by something better.

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wccrawford
'Hack' is probably not the right word here. And if it is, it's used
incorrectly. How about:

"to use the"

"to create apps with the"

"to hack with the"

~~~
bad_user
The article mentions developers that have reverse engineered Kinect's
protocol.

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wccrawford
I remember when that happened. And that was a hack. But MS releasing an
official SDK does not help them 'hack the Kinect'. It helps them use it
officially.

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buckwild
talk about missing the boat.

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koenigdavidmj
Good to see them embracing this crowd.

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smogzer
Not easier in any way. The openni sdk is much open as it allows the developer
to use multiple operating systems, multiple depth cameras and a more
permissive license.

So the article and the herd got it all wrong, in fact the world would be
better if this sdk was not released, and in my opinion without microsoft (see
the latest fear mongering about webgl from a company that takes ages to patch
security holes).

~~~
rbanffy
To be fair, life would be a lot worse if Microsoft had to patch every hole
WebGL would open if their assessment is right (and lots of people smarter than
me think it is).

~~~
nightski
Possibly but it will only make them irrelevant faster. The fact is I have and
use WebGL today in Safari, Chrome and (sort of) Firefox, for better or for
worse.

~~~
rbanffy
They will either support it or see their browser share falling. And I have no
problem with smaller Microsoft - they did good things when they had to fight
for their lives.

