Microsoft ‘Moving On’ After HD DVD Breakup

It’s only been a few weeks since Blu-ray was declared the winner of the DVD standards war, but Microsoft is already figuring out the best way to get together with Blu-ray

Just a few weeks after the Blu-ray Disc Association unequivocally won the high-definition video format war, and Microsoft canceled production of its HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360, Microsoft says it’s already trying to figure out the best way to align itself with Blu-ray.

“We’ve already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the Mix ‘08 conference in Las Vegas, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

“Toshiba has moved on. We’ve moved on, and we’ll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense,” he said.

Ballmer’s comment squares with remarks Sony Electronics President made Wednesday night to a gathering of reporters in San Francisco, when he said that Sony is holding discussions with a number of partners, including Microsoft, about incorporating Blu-ray into their products. Glasgow said an Xbox 360 console with Blu-ray was certainly “a possibility.”

Though Glasgow didn’t specify whether that meant an internal drive or a detachable one like the HD DVD version, the Financial Times cited an unnamed senior executive Thursday saying that Microsoft is considering an internal Blu-ray drive for the 360.

Source: Business Week