Official Microsoft Kinect SDK is out

"The Kinect for Windows SDK beta is a starter kit for applications developers that includes APIs, sample code, and drivers. This SDK enables the academic research and enthusiast communities to create rich experiences by using Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect sensor technology on computers running Windows 7."

Source : Microsoft

They have put focus on skeletal recognition and tracking. As sample you will have a game... and more

Official samples:

"Skeletal Viewer—Capturing Data with the NUI API (C++ and C#)
The Kinect sensor includes two cameras: one delivers depth information and the other delivers color data. The NUI API enables applications to access and manipulate this data. The SkeletalViewer sample uses the NUI API to render data from the Kinect sensor’s cameras as images on the screen. The managed sample uses WPF to render captured images, and the native application uses DirectX.

ShapeGame—Creating a Game with Audio and Skeletal Tracking
Displays the tracked skeletons of two players together with shapes falling from the sky. Players can control the shapes by moving and speaking commands.

Audio Capture Raw (C++)
The Kinect sensor’s audio component is a four-element microphone array. The AudioCaptureRaw sample uses the Windows Audio Session API (WASAPI) to capture the raw audio stream from the Kinect sensor’s microphone array and write it to a .wav file.

MicArrayEchoCancellation—Acoustic Echo Cancellation, Beam Forming, and Source Localization (C++)
The primary way for C++ applications to access the Kinect sensor’s microphone array is through the MSRKinectAudio DirectX Media Object (DMO). The MSRKinectAudio DMO supports all standard microphone array functionality, and adds support for beamforming and source localization. The MicArrayEchoCancellation sample shows how to use the KinectAudio DMO as a DirectShow® source to access the Kinect sensor’s microphone array. This sample uses acoustic echo cancellation to record a high-quality audio stream and beamforming and source localization to determine the selected beam and the direction of the sound source.

MFAudioFilter—Media Foundation Audio Filter (C++)
Shows how to capture an audio stream from the Kinect sensor’s microphone array by using the MSRKinectAudio DMO in filter mode in a Windows Media Foundation topology.

RecordAudio—Recording an Audio Stream and Monitoring Direction (C#)
Demonstrates how to capture an audio stream from the Kinect sensor’s microphone array and monitor the currently selected beam and sound source direction.

Speech—Recognizing Voice Commands (C#)
Demonstrates how to use the Kinect sensor’s microphone array with the Microsoft.Speech API to recognize voice commands."


An example made by a user.