Blake Krikorian

The tech press loves a good mystery. And one that we’ve been wondering about since news broke last week is this: Which tech giant gobbled up Blake Krikorian’s startup, id8 Group R2 Studios Inc.?

Now, it appears we may have an answer. The Wall Street Journal reports that id8 Group R2 Studios Inc. has landed in the hands of Microsoft and that Krikorian will be joining the company in a new role.

Microsoft declined to comment on the report.

You may recall that Krikorian, the founder of Sling Media, suddenly stepped down from the board of Amazon.com on December 28th. An Amazon spokesman said at the time that Krikorian would be joining the unnamed company acquiring his startup.

Very litte is known about Krikorian’s startup, but the Journal reports that the acquisition includes patents “related to controlling electronic devices.” The Journal reports that the technology from Krikorian’s startup will be used by the Xbox group. No purchase price has been disclosed.

The acquisition is interesting in part because it would reflect that Krikorian or Amazon.com, and possibly both, felt the new job at the acquiring company would create a potential conflict. So, could that possibly signal that Amazon has bigger intentions to possibly control the living room?

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