Just to clarify, I have no idea what Microsoft's Xbox software or user experience is like, and I have no interest in duplicating that specifically. I hope that people come up with entirely new ideas and apps.

Also, I should make clear that I'm doing this personally; the fact that I work for Google has nothing to do with it. If anything, I think Microsoft deserves props for bringing such cool technology to market. I hope Microsoft does really well with the Kinect and sells tons of them.

If they embrace the non 360 owning community, it doesn't sound like they will be losing money ( http://bit.ly/aEUq3p ). That being said though I don't think that as a person in the tech community that you do not have some inkling about what the UX of this device entails as MS has developed it (re "I have no idea what Microsoft's Xbox software or user experience is like"). As it has been plastered from Alpha to Oprah.

I actually am pretty in-the-dark about the UX of the Kinect and how it works with the Xbox. I don't have a Kinect myself yet, for example. I have an Xbox but haven't turned it on in several months, mainly because it's so loud (like, helicopter loud. Are newer Xboxen quieter?). I'm not much of a gamer, other than Portal and Katamari a few years ago. I've yet to watch an episode of Oprah, either. :)

I do hope that the Kinect cost of materials is low enough that MSFT doesn't lose money on each Kinect they sell. But I have to think that the tinkerer/maker community is much smaller than the mass market for video gamers. My guess is that Kinect purchases for Linux will be a barely blip on MSFT's radar.

The new XBox S (the matte black one) is much quieter than the old XBoxes. This YouTube video gives some idea of the difference, throwing in a listen with a PS3 as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5QpoKwVcSk

The Kinect experience so far is targeted at a wider audience than the traditional gamer. My mother, for example, absolutely loves the Kinect. She particularly likes the Tai Chi and yoga trainers in the "Your Shape" game. I didn't expect it to take off with her the way it did, but it's the first video game system where she really wants to play it.

Another thing: there are several different interfaces embodied in the launch titles around the same basic Kinect capabilities and interactions. If you want to develop new user experiences, now is a good time to check out what people are doing before everything settles into place. So it's worth at least visiting a friend who has one.

(Disclosure: I work at Microsoft. Speaking only for myself here, of course.)

Most of Google's competitors (in search) are already trying to discover/emulate Google's algorithms. There is no need for a contest. Any one who is capable of doing that can build a great search engine instead and earn a lot more money.

But a person/team making it easy to write programs that use the Kinect on Linux may not be able to sell the software. So a contest makes sense.

Is the valuable information in the emulating of the device, or the algo's used to process it's images? It seems like MS's bread and butter is the processing (and speed of) - more akin to your example of G's search algo, in effect isn't that what he is asking for? Is that not something that someone could sell (to the detriment of MS' research investment). Honestly I think it is great he is holding a contest for this, was just trying to draw a comparison that if this were the other way around (High profile MS employee asking for the breakdown of a Google device) the MS employee would be tar and feather'd. Maybe that is just the hole MS dug for themselves (that Google might now be digging?)

On a side note, I think that the vocal capabilities of the device are far over looked. The voice recog is amazing.