This is likely a soft landing. Microsoft is actively developing their own time-of-flight depth camera in-house rather than using Primesense's "projected computed stereo" solution. Primesense probably saw the writing on the wall...
I like disassembling depth cameras and laser rangefinders. We used the sensors extensively in robotics, back when the only ToF option was the $10k Swiss Ranger SR4000. You can find some of my writings on my robotics website:
If you're indoors, any of the Primesense devices are best (Kinect or Asus Xtion). If you're outdoors, you can't really rely on the Kinect -- the projected IR light patterns get drowned out by the sun. Then you have to go a time-of-flight solution: the Swiss Ranger SR4000 (expensive!) or the PMD Technologies sensor (I've heard they're available for a couple $hundred now). Kinect2 is supposed to be time-of-flight when it is released too.
I like disassembling depth cameras and laser rangefinders. We used the sensors extensively in robotics, back when the only ToF option was the $10k Swiss Ranger SR4000. You can find some of my writings on my robotics website:
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2010/03/28/low-cost-depth-cameras...
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2010/06/20/low-cost-depth-camera-...
http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/01/04/velodyne-hdl-64e-laser...