Word has it that Microsoft was able to get ahead of Apple and Google and buy the home entertainment technology startup R2 Studios, according to the Wall Street Journal. This acquisition will most likely help amplify Microsoft’s Xbox platform. R2 Studios was created by Sling Media founder Blake Krikorian in May 2011. Sling Media developed Slingbox, which let users watch television on their computers. According to the Wall Street Journal, R2 Studios has been working on ways to display content on televisions, which could coordinate with Xbox’s focus of adding TV entertainment to its gaming console. Before R2 Studios was snapped up by Microsoft, it was also in talks with Apple and Google, according to the Wall Street Journal. Along with buying R2 Studios, Microsoft is also getting its hands on several patents for controlling certain electronic devices.

Read the full story at CNET.