Microsoft denies sign language support for Kinect
Says patent doesn't refer to Kinect, but deep-throats suggest cost-cutting
Microsoft has confirmed that its Kinect motion controller is not capable of reading sign language, following the discovery of a patent that suggested otherwise.
"Microsoft files lots of patent applications to protect our intellectual property," a spokesperson told website Kotaku, "not all of which are brought to market right away. Kinect that is shipping this holiday will not support sign language."
The site claimed that "sources close to the evolution of Kinect's development" had alleged this was the result of hardware cost-cutting since Kinect's prototype stage, necessary to bring the unit's retail cost down to $150.
A lowered resolution of the camera was to blame, they claimed, purporting that this made the device incapable of translating individual finger movements.