Microsoft has sold its IPTV platform Mediaroom to Ericsson, in a move that will now let Redmond dedicate all of its resources to its Xbox TV service.
The deal, announced by Microsoft today, will allow it "to commit 100 per cent of its focus on consumer TV strategy with Xbox," according to a statement on its blog.
Rumours of Microsoft building its own Cloud TV service have been rumbling as of late, so we expect this is all part of the master plan.
Ericsson was recently rumoured to be interested in buying Microsoft's Mediaroom, but now we have official word that the vital handshake will be taking place.
Microsoft TV is go
"With the sale of Mediaroom, Microsoft is dedicating all TV resources to Xbox in a continued mission to make it the premium entertaining service that delivers all the games and entertainment consumers want – whether on a console, phone, PC or tablet," said the statement.
Either way, more TV services on Xbox Live can only be a good thing. Meanwhile, around 11 million households around the world have Mediaroom - so Ericsson has got itself a good thing here.
Neither company has said how much the business was sold for but we'll assume it was a more than a few bob.
It's a certainty that we'll be seeing Microsoft unroll its TV plans on the next Xbox console. A cloud-based TV chimes nicely with rumours of an always-connect console.
Could the next Xbox and the touted Xbox TV set-top box turn out to be just one device after all? Or are we still hoping for two devices to release alongside one another?
Via The Verge
