Microsoft still claims that the Kinect wasn’t hacked, and now are saying that the USB port was left open by design. While this is great news for tinkerers and hobbyists, it goes against what Microsoft has said in the past about Kinect. Who knows if they left it open by design, or if it was just a hole that was left open by accident.

Responding to the “Open Kinect” contest by Adafruit Industries, the Redmond company originally said it was working with law enforcement and safety groups to keep the device tamper-resistant. A few days later, the company said the project didn’t constitute hacking but the use was unsupported, and it encouraged people “to use Kinect for Xbox 360 with their Xbox 360 to get the best experience possible.”