kinect.com Archives – We're Fusible

Nearly a month after acquiring domain name, Microsoft starts redirecting Kinect.com to Xbox web page

Earlier this month, I was the first to report that Microsoft acquired the domain name Kinect.com for its controller-free add-on for the Xbox.

However, if you typed the URL, kinect.com, into your browser’s address bar in the past 30 or so days, you were taken to Bing’s search engine results page for the keyword “Kinect.”. The exact URL: http://www.bing.com/search?q=kinect&form=MSSRPD

Today, Microsoft released its second-quarter results which were helped by the success of its Kinect game device.

“Sales at the company’s entertainment-and-devices division jumped 55% on the success of the company’s Kinect motion-based controller, which were a hit during the holiday season and boosted sales of Xbox 360 consoles. Operating profit for the division has surpassed $1 billion so far this fiscal year.”, writes The Wall Street Journal.

Though the change looks to have taken place in the past week, redirecting the domain name Kinect.com from Bing’s search engine results to the Xbox Kinect page appears to coincide with the release of the company’s second quarter results.

Confirmed: Microsoft Corporation now owns the domain Kinect.com

When Microsoft launched its now-popular Kinect, the controller-free add-on for the Xbox in early November, it didn’t own the domain name Kinect.com. Kinect.com has been registered since the nineties and the domain name re-directed to CAHG.com, a company that helped others grow their leadership brands.

Earlier this week, back on Dec. 30th, Andrew Allemann of Domain Name Wire and other bloggers and writers described how Microsoft had filed a UDRP to get the following domain names: MicrosoftKinect.com, KinectWorld.com, KinectPro.com, and KinectReviews.us. At the time of the story, Microsoft still didn’t own Kinect.com.

While it appears many reported the news about the UDRP cases, no one has reported that the domain name switched owners on New Year’s Eve.

As of December 31st, 2010, the domain name is now registered to Microsoft Corporation.

Domain Administrator
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond WA 98052

Created on…………..: 1998-11-17.
Expires on…………..: 2014-11-16.
Record last updated on..: 2010-12-31.

The change in owners comes only days after Microsoft filed the first UDRP cases.

According to registrant records, Microsoft now owns the Kinect.com domain name.

While the price of the name remains undisclosed, one can only imagine what Microsoft had to shell out. A recent article in Gamasutra pointed out that Microsoft aims to sell 12.1 million units of the Kinect device by the end of 2011 after the company already sold 2.5 million units worldwide through November.

Over a year ago, Microsoft acquired the domain name Office.com in a transaction that was highly publicized by a number of technology sites after it was revealed that Microsoft used a company called Marksmen, a Microsoft contractor to purchase the name for an undisclosed amount.