Microsoft acquires start up id8, Source

 Microsoft bought start-upid8 Group R2 Studios as it looks to expand further in technology focused on the home and entertainment, a person familiar with the situation said. 

id8 Group R2 Studios was started in 2011 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Blake Krikorian. It recently launched a Google Androidapplication to allow users to control home heating and lighting systems from smartphones. 
Krikorian's Sling Media - which was sold to EchoStar Communications in 2007 - made the "Slingbox" for watching TV on computers. 

Krikorian will join Microsoft with a small team, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported the acquisition earlier. Microsoft also purchased some patents owned by the start-up related to controlling electronic devices, the newspaper added. 

Krikorian and a Microsoft spokesman declined to comment. 

Krikorian resigned from Amazon.com Inc's board in late December after about a year and a half as a director at the company, the Internet's largest retailer.