They enable support for up to four Kinect sensors plugged into the same computer, include improved skeletal tracking of users and have a 'near mode' for tracking movement as close as 40 centimeters in front of the device. The SDK and runtime include a few improvements over the most recent beta version, Craig Eisler, general manager of Kinect for Windows, wrote in a blog post. This release of the SDK (software development kit) means that developers can launch commercial products using the sensor. Microsoft has been letting people build Kinect apps for PCs, but only for non-commercial use. But it soon became clear that developers wanted the chance to build new kinds of applications using the sensor. The Kinect motion and voice sensor was initially designed for use with Microsoft's Xbox gaming console. As promised, Microsoft on Wednesday shipped version 1.0 of the Kinect for Windows SDK and runtime and said partners have started selling the Kinect hardware.
