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Microsoft Not Discussing Blu-ray On Xbox 360

By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek Thu Mar 13, 2:19 PM ET

Microsoft is not in talks to add Blu-ray high-definition technology in the Xbox 360, an executive with the software maker told a British news agency on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT

The comments of Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for the videogame console, to Reuters put a damper on reports that Microsoft would turn to Sony-backed Blu-ray following the demise of the rival format HD DVD.

"Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," Greenberg told Reuters in a Wednesday interview.

Microsoft was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.

Sony Electronics U.S. president Stan Glasgow said this month at a media dinner in San Francisco that Microsoft and Sony were in discussions aimed at adding Blu-ray to the Xbox, according to a report in London's Financial Times.

But Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer a week later injected some doubt over the report during a speech at the company's Mix '08 conference. Ballmer said that Microsoft's long-term view is that the Internet, and not discs, would be the primary vehicle for delivering HD content. "Five years from now, it may not make a bit of difference" whether the Xbox or other devices have DVD drives, he said.

Until recently, Microsoft had used the Toshiba-backed HD DVD format to add high-definition movie playback to the Xbox 360. That strategy, however, imploded last month when Toshiba said it would drop HD DVD. The decision followed defections from virtually all major Hollywood studios to Blu-ray.

Ballmer, however, did say that Microsoft is developing software for the Windows operating system to add native support for devices that play Blu-ray movies.

See original article on InformationWeek.com