Microsoft readying Windows Kinect SDK - rumour

Rumours are spreading that Microsoft is already working on the official SDK which would see Kinect functioning on Windows PCs, a development which Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer hinted at to the BBC during CES.

Speaking in a brief interview with BBC online tech program Click, Ballmer said that PC Kinect was something which Microsoft "will support...in a formal way in the right time". Now, speculative blog WinRumours believes it has evidence that that support may be closer than first thought.

WinRumours' information comes from an anonymous source, states that official drivers could be on the scene in as little as a few months, and are likely to be released in beta status as part of an XNA preview package to allow coders to facilitate the Kinect sensor into their programming.

Kinect has already been shown performing various tasks on Windows PCs as hackers have explored the device's potential, something which Microsoft have shown very little concern over - even pointing out that the platform was designed to be relatively open to allow this sort of tinkering. For the latest hacks and tricks which the tech community is pulling from Kinect, head over to the report at Digital Foundry, part of sister site Eurogamer.