A good news – Microsoft has released Kinect 1.0 for Windows Software Development Kit. Kinect 1.0 is an effort to take Kinect sensor technology beyond entertainment purpose. However, this time its only for business purposes not for consumers.

Its a much improved updated version than Beta 2 (released last year). Kinect supports four Kinect sensors on one computer along with much improved skeletal tracking system. Speech recognition accuracy is fine and high. You can enjoy API updates, stability, runtime and audio fixes on kinect 1.0 now. Another important feature is Near Mode – allows close-up views up to 40 cm in front on device.

$249 is the retail price for Kinect Windows hardware. However, hardware is available in U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Japan, New Zealand and Mexico. You can download it here.