Visitors play with Microsoft's Xbox 360 consoles at the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba, east of Tokyo, September 15, 2011. The game show goes on till September 18.

SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:01pm EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it hired technology entrepreneur Blake Krikorian to help run its Interactive Entertainment Business as the world's largest software company plans bigger things for its Xbox gaming console.

Krikorian will be corporate vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business, reporting to Marc Whitten, chief product officer for the division, Microsoft added.

The appointment follows Microsoft's recent acquisition of Krikorian's company, id8 Group R2 Studios, which had developed an application that allows users to control home heating and lighting systems from smartphones.

Microsoft is trying to transform Xbox from a gaming device into a broader service that controls most aspects of home entertainment, including music, movies, TV and sports.

"We look forward to his contribution to our team as Xbox continues to evolve and transform the games and entertainment landscape," Whitten said in a statement.

Krikorian's Sling Media - which was sold to EchoStar Communications in 2007 - made the Slingbox device for watching TV over the Internet.

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.

(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Blake Krikorian, of id8 Group Holdings, arrives at the Sun Valley Inn in Sun Valley, Idaho July 9, 2009.

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Dec 28, 2012 6:37pm EST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Blake Krikorian has quit the board of Amazon.com Inc about a year and a half after joining to take up an unspecified role at the buyer of a company he owned.

Krikorian, known for co-founding Sling Media in 2004, informed the rest of the board on Wednesday of his intention to resign, Amazon said in a Friday filing.

Spokesman Ty Rogers added that the serial entrepreneur, whose latest endeavor is home-automation startup id8 Group R2 Studios Inc, has sold a company and quit in order to take up a position at the acquirer. He did not name the company involved or the buyer.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Krikorian's year-old startup was in acquisition discussions with Amazon rivals Apple Inc, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp. It cited sources as saying the trio of tech powerhouses coveted R2 Studios' home-oriented technology as they expanded their own forays into living-room media entertainment.

R2 Studios recently launched a Google Android application to allow users to control home heating and lighting systems from their smartphone. Krikorian's Sling Media -- which was sold to EchoStar Communications in 2007 -- made the "Slingbox" for watching TV on computers.

Krikorian, known also for doing double duty as an angel investor, joined Amazon's board in September of last year, a move hailed as helping propel Amazon's own substantial efforts in online media. (Reporting By Edwin Chan; Editing by Gary Hill and Bob Burgdorfer)

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