>>>>>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12707160
>>>>
>>>>One interesting aspect is that MS was initially trying to pull an Apple with the Kinect, and lock it in to the XBox. The FOSS community offered a bounty for someone to create a driver: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinect#Open_source_drivers . MS later claimed it was a "misunderstanding" if anyone thought the device was closed.
>>>>
>>>>So, once again, MS got prodded to do something it should have done in the first place. Over time they'll sell more of them, and they'll probably get feel-good stories about how Kinects are being used to help disabled people etc.
>>>
>>>Over here were quite a few stories on techies trying to get Kinetics to be used as an input device like in that Cruise movie
>>>as well as glowing praises for best "usability" of all current input devices. Maybe that is the reason they went after the gaaming crowd with WP7 - create a market to sell more Kinetics in ;-))
>>
>>"Minority Report"?
>
>Yupp. that was it... adding it to xPad/Phone devices might eliminate fruitless searches for rodents...

xPad -- interesting word. I don't think it's a generic device yet, even though there are now many competing products. Apple has sold 15 million iPads since its introduction last spring. What is surprising is that no one has been able to match the iPad's price. Apple has never been known as a low price company, but they are in this case.

It was good to see Steve Jobs do the iPad 2 launch last month. That was a surprise given recent pictures of him and his open-ended medical leave. He sure looked like a goner. Maybe he is, but at least he was at the launch. I know some do not agree with me (hello, Charles <g>) but IMO he is the greatest marketer in American business history. The Apple II, the Mac, the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, and now the iPad. That is a stunning string of game changing products.