Despite indications to the contrary, an article published by the Financial Times suggests that American software giant Microsoft Corp. is looking at the possibility of incorporating Sony’s Blu-ray HD video technology into its Xbox 360.
Fresh rumours surface that Microsoft (and now Apple) might be considering the adoption of Blu-ray. Credit: Blu-ray.
The report outlines that Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics US, has recently revealed Sony is in talks with both Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. regarding the potential hardware integration of Blu-ray.
The Blu-ray HD format recently achieved the title of ‘industry standard’ when rival platform HD DVD was taken out of the technology race by its creator Toshiba.
HD DVD proponent Microsoft has since cancelled production of the standalone HD DVD player that it offered as an add-on alongside the popular Xbox 360 videogame console.
Notably, any subsequent adoption of Blu-ray by Apple would generally go against its existing focus of delivering HD movie content via downloads through the iTunes Store -- although its digital selection does presently pale beside the likes of Amazon Unbox.
Similarly, while Microsoft has supported a physical high definition format in HD DVD, industry watchers have suggested that the demise of Toshiba’s platform would see Microsoft expand its own digital media delivery via Xbox Live Marketplace rather than go with Blu-ray.
According to the Financial Times report, a Blu-ray player could well be equipped within upcoming models of the Xbox 360 Elite, although that might see the premium price of Microsoft’s upper-tier console rise to accommodate its inclusion.
However, with Microsoft having already indicated that a new version of Xbox Live is in development and that it intends to increase its focus on digital delivery, it remains to be seen exactly what Microsoft’s talks with Sony are actually about.
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