Microsoft Believes in Robotic Future

Microsoft said Tuesday it launched a new research group and the company's first-ever robotics software, available for public preview via download. The technology, called Microsoft Robotics Studio, is a Windows-based toolkit designed so that commercial and individual developers can create intelligent applications for a range of products.

Microsoft is also funding a new research lab, called the Center for Innovative Robotics, at Carnegie Mellon University, a pioneer in robotics research. Funds allotted to the CMU lab and its own research group were not disclosed.
With Microsoft's heft and money, the field of robotics will likely gain visibility, experts say

Microsoft also has several academic and commercial partners that plan to support its software. Those include CMU, Lego, CoroWare, KUKA Robot Group, Robosoft and MobileRobots.

Interesting but also surprising: usually Microsoft waits until there is an established player in a market before entering it ;-) (end then ends dominate it anyway). More here, here and there.