Windows 10 Anniversary Update Will Integrate Better With Kinect, Promote More Apps

More details are seeping out about the Windows 10 anniversary update, due this July.

The update will allow Universal Windows Platform apps to access more data from Kinect sensors, according to a post on the Kinect blog. While UWP APIs can already pick up audio and speech data from the motion sensing device, they have so far been unable to access RGB, infrared and depth data. That changes with the anniversary update. Developers will also be able to program their UWP apps to access data on skeletal poses with a supplemental SDK to be released sometime this year.

The changes will allow developers to make better use of Kinect’s motion-sensing capabilities, and perhaps boost interest in a device with lagging sales.

More Promoted Apps in Start Menu

Microsoft is also upping the number of promoted apps that appear in the Start menu from 5 to 10, according to Thurrott’s Brad Sams. Some of the promotional tiles will be apps that are already downloaded, while others are links to the Windows Store.

Microsoft says it wants to introduce more users to the store right out of the gate. And as Sams points out, the company may also hope to entice big-name developers to offer Windows 10 apps by guaranteeing slots on the Start menu.

Apps are selected for a user based on geography, says Microsoft, and will rotate regularly.