Microsoft building 'Xbox Cloud TV platform'

Microsoft has announced it's selling its IPTV platform Mediaroom to Ericsson and focus "on consumer TV strategy with Xbox"

Microsoft has announced it's sold off its IPTV platform Mediaroom to Ericsson as part of a plan to focus its efforts on a new entertainment platform for the Xbox.

The sale will see Ericsson become the leading IPTV platform holder with its acquisition of Mediaroom, which is currnetly used by 22 million set-top boxes in 21 countries.

The move also continues Microsoft's ongoing app-based strategy for the Xbox dashboard over the last 18 months, according to the Verge, with the publisher looking to develop a cloud-based entertainment platform for its console.

These sentiments have been echoed in a statement on Microsoft's official blog by its Corporate Vice President of Marketing, Strategy and Business for the Interactive Entertainment Business, Yusuf Mehdi.

"With the sale of Mediaroom, Microsoft is dedicating all TV resources to Xbox in a continued mission to make it the premium entertainment service that delivers all the games and entertainment consumers want – whether on a console, phone, PC or tablet. And with 76 million Xbox 360 consoles around the world with 46 million Xbox LIVE members, it is a mission that gets us out of bed in the morning," said Mehdi

"It is not a mission that we can achieve alone. We want to partner with the industry to deliver the next wave of innovation in games and consumer entertainment. We will partner with content creators, studios, labels, networks, content aggregators, operators and distributors to make this happen," he added.