Why Xbox One S Drops Native Kinect Support

The Xbox One S is officially coming in latter 2016 sporting a 40% smaller design and some other fun features such as 4K video playback. It's a much better looking machine as well in its small yet sleek design and interior power source, I was however quite bothered by a simple aspect. The Kinect has become one of my most favorite things on Xbox as I can just talk to the console when I enter or leave a room without needing a headset or anything. I also have a number of friends that love it as well as some that don't. Despite being heavily pushed since the start of the generation and a device I've happily supported since its initial release on Xbox 360 it was disappointing to see that it won't be natively support on Xbox One S. With that I reached out for comment on it as I assume it mostly has to do with space, but how large could a port be for standalone device? I've placed my question in original text and the response below which can be attributed to a "Microsoft Spokesperson".




Q: Could I get a statement on the Xbox One S dropping native Kinect support, will that continue with Scorpio and is there any word on how supporters of the device will get hands on the USB adapter so the S can read it?

Response:
a) "We wanted to make the Xbox One S as small as possible, something that all our fans will appreciate. To create the slimmest form factor and include an internal power supply, we made the decision to remove the Kinect port. Kinect for Xbox One will still be compatible with Xbox One S via the Xbox Kinect Adapter and the experience will not change due to the connection. For fans that currently own a Kinect for Xbox One, we are offering a free Xbox Kinect Adapter to use with Xbox One S. Visit Xbox.com/XboxOne/KinectAdapter for more details."
b) "Addressing the Scorpio side of the question, We have nothing further to share at this time."

This is somewhat worrying to me that the device may not make the jump to Scorpio as you'll need a separate USB to use it. While there will be no difference in performance USB slots are extremely limited on the console as I'm already permanently using two for external hard drives with an awkward side one for occasional games that require it. Whatever the case it'll be interesting to see what happens with Kinect over time and I'm sure we'll know come E3 2017.

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