Microsoft's Original Kinect for Windows Will be Phased Out This Year (2015)

Microsoft is retiring the original Kinect for Windows sensor sometime in 2015. The company will only be selling the remaining stocks of the original Kinect for Windows sensor. A specific date for the sensor's phase-out will be announced soon.

Microsoft has sold around 24 million units of the Kinect sensor since its release. Recently, Microsoft released Kinect for Windows 2, which allows users to do a whole lot more compared to the first Kinect for Windows.

"The new sensor provides a host of new and improved features, including enhanced body tracking, greater depth fidelity, full 1080p high-definition video, new active infrared capabilities, and an expanded field of view," said Microsoft.

The original Kinect was introduced by Microsoft aimed at increasing sales of the Xbox 360 console. The company refers it as the "milestone achievement" when it comes to the realm of "natural" human computing.

"It allowed developers to create solutions that broke through the old barriers of mouse and keyboard interactions," said Microsoft.

Earlier the Kinect 2 was available as a non-optional part of the Xbox One but many games did not use it, so Microsoft introduced a cheaper Xbox One model sans Kinect. The decision of a cheaper model boosted sales.