Turns out "the right time" is going to be this spring. As rumored, Microsoft is busy prepping the release of an official, non-commercial Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit this spring in the hopes of advancing the work already being done unofficially by hackers, scientists and of course, musicians. Would-be German SDK creators may want to hurry things up.

Revealed during Microsoft's internal "show-and-tell discussion" known as TechForum, Microsoft chief research and strategy office Craig Mundie, along with Interactive Entertainment Business pres Don Mattrick, announced their plans to release the SDK as a free download this spring. The project is a "collaboration" between Microsoft Research and IEB and promises to "give academic researchers and enthusiasts access to key pieces of the Kinect system -- such as the audio technology, system application programming interfaces and direct control of the Kinect sensor itself."

Of course, being a non-commercial offering, we expect to hear more about the commercial counterpart for those who may want to charge for Kinect-enhanced software. Us? We're just interested in seeing the next evolution in our ongoing Kinect Hacks series!