Microsoft is discontinuing the Kinect — again. The company officially stopped manufacturing the depth camera and microphone in 2017 and brought it back in a latest form in 2019 because the Azure Kinect Developer Kit. Now, Microsoft is ending production of that, too, but it surely has partnered with some outside firms to offer options available for individuals who need similar sorts of devices.
If you should get one in all the remaining Azure Kinect Developer Kits, they’ll be available for purchase through the tip of October or “until supplies last,” Microsoft’s Swati Mehta said in a post on the corporate’s website. If you have already got one, Mehta guarantees which you can keep using it “without disruption.”
“As the needs of our customers and partners evolve, we frequently update our products to best support them,” Mehta wrote. “From time to time, this includes introducing latest opportunities, in addition to retiring products. We have made the choice to finish production of Azure Kinect Developer Kit, but that is removed from the tip of this technology as it can proceed to be available through our partner ecosystem.” One alternate suggestion from Mehta is Orbbec’s Femto Bolt, which uses the depth camera module present in the Azure Kinect Developer Kit.
