Kinect To Integrate With Microsoft's Lync Corporate Video Chat Platform

Microsoft announced today that the Xbox 360's Kinect camera controller would integrate with its Lync corporate video chat platform, allowing for communication between "the boardroom and the living room," as the company put it. Microsoft already allows Kinect users to video chat with each other and with PC-based Windows Live Messenger users. Today's announcement extended those capabilities to include chats with users of various server and software products that are part of Microsoft's recently rebranded, business-focused Lync line, formerly known as Office Communicator. Lync products currently work on devices including Macs, PCs, web browsers and desktop video phones, with support for mobile phones coming in 2011. Microsoft said Lync's open standard will allow the technology to be integrated into other pieces of software as well. "What we've done is really connected the living room scenario with the work scenario, which I call the dads to kids scenario," said Gurdeep Singh Paul, Microsoft Senior VP for Lync. "We think that's a very important capability." A demonstration of the technology during a public unveiling event today showed Kinect following a user around the living room as he conducted a video chat with a user on a video phone. The code allowing for this Xbox 360 integration will be released as a free update to the system's Video Kinect software soon, according to Microsoft. The final version of Lync Server 2010 was released to manufacturers in October and will be available in over 150 countries next month.