I guess it's official: Microsoft has decided to enter the robotics field. Here's the story I found from ZDNet:
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6085629.html?tag=nl.e589
Personally, I don't see why this is such a big deal. They've probably been working in the background on robotics for years.
I'm already seeing the "dead bots on MS" slams on the web. While I've had my share of the "blue screen of death", to catagorize robotic hardware in the same list is just a tad unfair at this point. They need to remember that robots are highly individualistic and customized. If anything, MS is actually homogenizing the science.