The Wall street Journal reported on January 2 that Microsoft quietly bought id8 Group R2 Studios to boost its Xbox business.
A few subsequent reports - none of which still has been confirmed officially by Microsoft, for what it's worth - noted that the startup, which is the brainchild of the creator of the Slingbox, has been working on mobile apps that tap into home-automation systems. Given Microsoft's mission to morph the Xbox from just a gaming console to the center of users' living rooms, the Xbox-home-automation tie-in makes sense.
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