Microsoft Kinect has changed the way people play games & experience entertainment. Now, Microsoft Kinect for Windows offers the potential to transform how people interact with computers & Windows-embedded devices in multiple industries, including education, healthcare, retail, transportation, & beyond. The release of the Microsoft Kinect for Windows sensor & software development kit (SDK) for commercial applications opens up the limitless possibilities offered by Kinect technology. Together, the hardware & software offer a superior development platform for Windows & a higher quality, better performing experience for end users. To further incite innovation, the Kinect for Windows hardware will be available through a variety of resellers & distributors in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Irel&, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zeal&, Spain, & the United Kingdom. Microsoft Kinect for Windows consists of the Kinect for Windows hardware & Kinect for Windows SDK, which supports applications built with C++, C, or Visual Basic by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. The newly release Kinect for Windows SDK version 1 offers enhanced skeletal tracking, enhanced speech recognition, modified API, & the ability to support up to four Kinect for Windows sensors plugged into one computer. Commercial Ready Installer makes it easy to install Kinect for Windows runtime & driver components for end-user deployments. Raw sensor streams Enables the depth sensor to see objects as close as 40 centimeters & also communicates more information about depth values outside the range than was previously available. There is also enhanced synchronization between color & depth, mapping depth to color, & a full frame API. Skeletal tracking Provides more accuracy & skeletal tracking now enables control over which user is being tracked by the sensor. Advanced speech & audio capabilities Provide the latest Microsoft Speech components & an updated English Language Pack for enhanced language recognition accuracy. In addition, the appropriate runtime components are now automatically installed with the runtime installer exe. API improvements Enhances consistency & ease of development. New developers should have a much easier time learning how to develop with Kinect for Windows, & all developers will be more productive. Commercial Kinect for Windows Sensor: The newly released Kinect for Windows hardware is optimized for use with computers & devices running Windows 7, Windows 8 developer preview (desktop applications only), & Windows Embedded-based devices. Some of the changes to the hardware include: Near mode Enables the camera to see objects as close as 40 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation out to 3 meters. Shortening USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable & small dongle Ensure reliability across a broad range of computers & improves coexistence with other USB (Universal Serial Bus) peripherals. The Kinect of Windows sensor is intended to be used with the Kinect for Windows SDK & applications developed using the Kinect for Windows SDK & associated runtime software. System requirements are: Hardware requirements 32-bit (x 86) or 64-bit (x 64) processor Dual-core 2.66 GHz or faster processor Dedicated USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 bus 2 GB RAM OS requirements Requires Windows 7 or Windows Embedded Standard 7