Microsoft Kinect Accelerator Program will offer startups money, Xbox Dev Kits

Microsoft Kinect Accelerator Program wants you, will provide three months of training, gives away De.

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Microsoft really wants to see what startups can do with their motion-based Kinect camera. Selling 8 million in 60 days wasn't enough, and Microsoft sees the future of gaming (and technology) as a huge part of Kinect. Microsoft is now preparing to help teach developers around the US what it takes to make the Kinect work for products on the Xbox or Windows PCs.

Microsoft Kinect Accelerator Program will offer startups money, Xbox Dev Kits | TweakTown.com

Microsoft is choosing ten different developer firms and individuals to come to Seattle for three months to learn the Kinect system inside-out. The ten people or startups will participate in what Microsoft call the "Kinect Accelerator program" and will work out of the Kinect Accelerator office.

Whilst in the program, the participants will learn everything they need to know in order to create things for Xbox and PC that work with Kinect. They won't just get three months of free training, they'll also receive $20,000, an Xbox dev kit, and the Windows Kinect SDK. Once the training is complete and the startups get their ideas perfected, Microsoft will sit them down in front of investors, venture capitalists, and media to try and grab some additional funding.

Microsoft has high hopes for the Kinect Accelerator program, where they hope some impressive ideas will come out of it, and will take Kinect into a totally different direction. Is there a catch? Of course there is, but it's actually not too bad. All of the companies that are accepted into the program must give the TechStars organization a 6-percent stake in their businesses. TechStars is an organization that mentors tech startups and helps provide starting funding.

NEWS SOURCE:dailytech.com

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.

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