Leap from Leap Motion is the innovative, Kinect-like device that costs US$80 and lets PC owners control use pinch-to-zoom functions and other hands-free gestures, all care of Leap’s App store, called Airspace. Users who pre-ordered Leap would only spend US$70 on the device and will have it shipped to them on 13 May. Everyone else only gets it 19 May.
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There will be two places to purchase Leap online, mainly through Leap Motion’s Web site, and at one of any of the trillion Best Buy stores State-side. According to Cnet, Leap Motion has secured over US$30-million in funding thanks to one of the most popular Kickstarter campaigns of all time. Leap Motion CEO Michael Buckwald also says that Leap units have been pre-ordered in the “hundreds of thousands”. Over 12 000 developers have already landed on the desks of some lucky geeks the world over.
When users first plug in the Leap, on online account at Airspace and any previously download apps (from other computers) will automatically download to the PC.
Leap’s not in the business of apps though, as Buckwald explains “We’re not in the app store business and we don’t plan on making much money from the app store. It’s about making sure users have as many places as possible to find great content.” There’s some interesting apps from some big names in the pipeline, according to Techland.com: Wreck-it-Ralph, Cut the Rope, The Weather Channel and plenty more. This is a device with legs. Leap is okay with almost any OS, and runs on Max OSX 10.7/8 as well as Windows 7/8, with Windows 8 being on OS that will especially benefit from its gesture-based goodness.
