Microsoft’s original intention for the Kinect was to bring controller-free gaming and entertainment to the Xbox 360 platform, but with the Kinect offering so much in such a small (and affordable) package, the world has utilized this hardware for much more than “child’s play.” As people around the globe started to use the device for other purposes than just gaming, the term “The Kinect Effect” started popping up around the Microsoft campus to describe where these creations came from.

Originally people had to create their own interface to the Kinect device, but it wasn’t long before Microsoft announced and then released their very own non-commercial SDK (software development kit) for the Kinect. Not long after, Microsoft “saw even more exciting and creative applications in the areas of healthcare, rehab, education and so much more,” says Frank Shaw, corporate vice president of corporate communications at Microsoft.

“Kinect Effect” stories began pouring in with personal accounts and YouTube videos from around the world showing how Kinect was helping transform and improve the way people work, create, and perform daily activities. We saw Kinect being used by therapists and physicians as part of a rehabilitation program for stroke victims, as a skill-building technique for children with autism, and as an application for hospitals in Spain enabling surgeons to scroll through medical images in the operating room with gestures so they could avoid the need to rescrub. Incredible stuff.

Microsoft created a video to demonstrate some of these possibilities, which is pretty amazing:

In just two months the Kinect sold over 8 million units, which set the Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling consumer electronics device in history — dethroning the iPad.

While the games available at launch were not all that exciting, slowly developers have been adopting the Kinect into their games, whether it be for full body control (such as dancing games) or doing things such as modifying a gun used within the game. Microsoft has also been working on integrating the Kinect into the Xbox 360 itself, with voice control and other gestures to navigate the consoles interface.

Announcing a commercial Kinect SDK

The first SDK Microsoft released to the public was only allowed for non-commercial use, so there was no way for companies to use the SDK to harness the device and then sell their software to go along with the Kinect. But that’s going to change, according to Shaw.

“To further fuel innovation and imagination, we will offer a Kinect for Windows commercial program early next year,” says Shaw. Shaw says Microsoft recognizes the interest coming from commercial companies to use the Kinect and it’s endless possibilities in the world.

Currently they are launching a pilot program for this SDK, and there have been more than 200 submitted applications from “top companies” in more than 20 countries around the world spanning over 25 industries.

Shaw did not mention any sort of release schedule for this commercial SDK, however.

Today at Microsoft’s E3 briefing, there was a lot of focus on the Kinect. Nearly every game shown off today took advantage of the Kinect in some way, shape, or form. But one surprising announcement was Kinect Fun Labs.

“Kinect Fun Labs brings exciting innovation to Kinect for Xbox 360 owners and offers more extraordinary ways to have fun,” according to Microsoft. During the briefing Kudo Tsunoda said that Fun Labs is a place for game developers and other third-parties to show off experiments with the Kinect technology.

Kinect Me was demonstrated during this time, which scans a person and then creates an avatar which looks just like the person. The user first starts off by scanning their face by moving it between the dotted lines, then they get their entire body scanned for the avatar’s clothes.

Awhile ago there were rumors of a firmware update coming for the Kinect, which would quadruple the resolution of the Kinect’s sensor, allowing the device to capture finger movement. This was confirmed, and will be coming this July. To demonstrate this new functionality, Kinect Sparkler was shown off. The demonstrator started off by taking a couple pictures of himself, then he was could draw in 3D space by moving his finger closer and further from the sensor.

Finally, object capture was shown off, which allows real-world objects to be scanned then recreated in a game. Soon games should be taking advantage of this technology, allowing you to scan a car you wish to drive in, or some weapon you would like to use.

While the Kinect did launch only a year ago, as I watched the briefing, it felt as though the Kinect was being relaunched. This is likely due to all the announcements of new games that take complete advantage of the sensor (such as Dance Central 2), or in some small, yet very significant, way (such as Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon).

Today at E3 Microsoft announced some new, and welcomed, features to the Xbox 360, which will be coming soon to an Xbox near you. We were already aware that Microsoft was going to have some big announcements surrounding entertainment, so some of these announcements were not all that surprising. However, there were a few that did come by surprise.

For starters, Don Mattrick of Microsoft said that YouTube will be coming to Xbox, but not much information was given on this new feature. They did not demonstrate this functionality, either.

However, Microsoft did demonstrate Bing on the Xbox, showing off voice search. With voice search, users can search “Netflix, Hulu Plus and ESPN, as well as music, video and Xbox LIVE Marketplace” all in one place. It seems as though there is a new saying to go along with this future release: “You say it, Xbox finds it.”

The Xbox is starting to turn into a great alternative to traditional television services, now that users can watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN, along with videos in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. But that’s not all. Microsoft also announced Live TV, which will allow consumers to watch “news, sports and their favorite local channels.” Microsoft has partnered with Sky TV in the UK, FOXTEL in Australia, and Canal+ in France for television services in the respective areas, but Microsoft “announced its commitment to expand access to live television programming on Xbox 360 to more providers in the United States and around the world during the upcoming year.”

There was no word on what “leading” networks in the US would be available, but the demonstration did show off The Castle, which is an ABC production. Microsoft will likely divulge more information about this Live TV service as we get closer to the release of this new Dashboard update. Keep in mind that this new service Microsoft will be providing is not on-demand, but will be just like a television, where users would “change channels” to see what’s on. With the best of both worlds, users could watch a show they missed on Netflix or Hulu Plus, but hop on over the Live TV to watch new shows at the same time as regular television. Looks like Microsoft is giving Apple TV, Roku, and Boxee a run for their money.

Don Mattrick also announced that Xbox would be increasing their partnerships by a “factor of 10,” along with turning their catalog from hundreds of thousands to millions of available content to consume.

Finally, Microsoft also unveiled a new look for the Xbox Dashboard, which ought to look rather familiar.

The Xbox Dashboard will now take on characteristics of Metro, which is currently used by the Zune HD, Windows Phone 7, and soon: Windows 8. It makes sense that Microsoft is slowly merging all their platforms into a similar “look and feel” so users always feel at home, even when using a new device.

Don Mattrick thanked all Xbox users for making last year Xbox’s biggest ever, finishing off the conference by saying, “this year, Xbox 360 will go from the number one selling console in North America, to the number one selling console globally.”

It’s been a good year for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console. Holding the title of ‘best-selling console’ for ten out of the last eleven months, it’s clear that Microsoft is doing something well here.

Of particular note are two Kinect launch titles: Dance Central and Kinect Sports. Despite being, at heart, a rip-off of Wii Sports, it’s managed to sell over 3 million copies worldwide. Dance Central, a fully-interactive ‘Dance Dance Revolution’-type game developed by Rock Band and former Guitar Hero developer Harmonix, sold 2.5 million copies worldwide since its release late last year.

To help prove the Xbox’s strength in the market, let’s look at the latest NPD sales figures:

• The Xbox 360 sold 297,000 units in April, securing it the No.1 spot in the U.S.
• Consoles sales are up 60% year-over-year, the largest growth of any current console, and likely thanks to the redesigned console released last summer.
• Total retail spending came out to $310 million, the most of any console. This figure includes hardware, software, and accessories.
• The top 10 Xbox 360 games for the month of April included Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, Michael Jackson: The Experience and Portal 2.

It might also help that the Xbox 360 is currently the only high-definition console with an operational online network. That was mean; I’m sorry, PS3 owners.

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2011/05/12/kinect-sports-amp-dance-central-help-keep-xbox-360-in-the-no-1-spot.aspx

According to data from the NPD Group, the Xbox 360 is still the No. 1 console in the U.S., outselling the PlayStation 3 and Wii for the third month in a row. The Xbox 360 has also been the best selling console for 9 out of the last 10 months — they were not the number one in December due to supply issues.

Xbox 360 sold 430,000 units in March 2011, growing 28% year-over-year, which is the largest growth of any of the latest consoles out there. The “total retail spend” on the Xbox 360 topped $457 million – which includes hardware, software, and accessories — the most of any console (still). This was “driven by strong console and software sales, as well as ongoing consumer demand for Kinect, the fastest selling consumer electronics device, according to Guinness World Records,” says Jeff Meisner, editor of The Official Microsoft Blog.

Microsoft says that they expect this “momentum” to continue through 2011. They also mention a few new things coming to the Xbox 360 later this year, such as Kinect-enabled Netflix and Hulu Plus, “as well as a diverse catalog of new games.”

Here are some interesting facts from the NPD Group:

• Xbox 360 sold 430,000 units in March, maintaining the number one console spot for the third month in a row.
• Xbox 360 console sales were up 28 percent year over year, the largest growth of any current generation console on the market.
• Total retail spend on Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories) reached $457 million, still the highest among current generation consoles.
• During the month of March, four of the top ten console game titles were for Xbox 360 including: “Homefront,” “Dragon Age II,” “Crysis 2,” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”