Speaking at the Mix08 Internet conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has hinted again of Microsoft’s future support of the Blu-ray media format, admitting that Microsoft is already working on software support for the technology.
Quoted by the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Ballmer commented: “We've already been working on [it], for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on."
"Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense," he added.
The comments follow continued press speculation, and
comments by some Microsoft employees, that the company may release a Blu-ray peripheral for the Xbox 360, as it did for Toshiba’s now abandoned HD DVD format.
Analysts though have been divided on the likelihood of any such move, which may draw unfavorable comparisons with the PlayStation 3 – especially since the peripheral is unlikely ever to be used to run games.
