Microsoft's Xbox could consider Blu-ray support
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Microsoft Corp's  Xbox video  gaming unit still fully backs Toshiba Corp's  HD-DVD  high-definition DVD format but could consider supporting Sony  Corp's  rival Blu-ray technology should consumers want  it, an executive said on Tuesday.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft is increasing the range of video formats that PCs running its Windows software can pipe to televisions around the home, with support for a new range of Extenders for Windows Media Center devices from hardware manufacturers. It expects companies such as Cisco Systems, D-Link, and Niveus Media to reveal new set-top boxes next month that can play videos or music stored on a PC running the Home Premium or Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. Microsoft's software will stream video in previously unsupported formats such as DivX and Xvid, delivering it to devices around the home over wired or wireless networks. The new Extender devices could even be capable of streaming "protected" high-definition (HD) video over the latest 802.11n wireless networks, Microsoft said Thursday. Vendors or broadcasters of HD content can protect it from piracy by using DRM (digital rights management) software to restrict the devices on which it can be displayed or stored. Microsoft's reasoning in developing these capabilities is that customers want to access the content on their multimedia PCs when they're not in front of the PC. AppleÂ realized this in 2004, when it released the diminutive AirPort Express Wi-Fi router with an audio-out socket for streaming music over a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection from a Macintosh or PC running its iTunes jukebox software, but the following year Microsoft went one better with an add-on pack called Windows Media Center Extender allowing its Xbox game consoles to stream music and video from a Windows Media Center PC. Manufacturers and buyers have been slow to take an interest in Microsoft's Windows Media Center Extender platform. The best-known Extender is Microsoft's own Xbox 360 game console, of which market-watchers estimate Microsoft has sold around 10 million since its November 2005 launch. By comparison, D-Link said in June 2006 that it had sold just 100,000 of its MediaLounge wireless media players in the first 18 months they were on sale. But Microsoft is still pushing the idea, now rebranded Extenders for Windows Media Center, collaborating with Cisco, D-Link, and Niveus to link their set-top boxes to Vista PCs. In the future, the company plans to work with a broader range of vendors to incorporate the same capabilities directly into other devices such as DVD players and televisions. There's more to it than a change of name, though: in its Windows Media Center Extender FAQ, Microsoft warns that devices based on the old specification, developed to work with Windows XP, will no longer work with the new system for Windows Vista.
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A new specification will add features to Blu-ray disc players proves that people really just subscribe to consumer electronics rather than buying them. Accept that and you can defend profligate spending on the latest TV or being a penny-pincher.
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Sony Corp. is planning to launch a Blu-ray Disc player in the middle of this year that's significantly cheaper than many current models on the market.
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Microsoft will launch an HD DVD drive add-on for its Xbox 360 console in November, a company executive said Wednesday.
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Microsoft Corp. is introducing an external high-definition DVD player for the Xbox 360 video game console to match the Blu-ray disc functions of Sony Corp.'s upcoming PlayStation 3. The software maker also announced Wednesday it will launch the Xbox 360 in India this week and in Africa next week.
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Despite rumors to the contrary, Microsoft did not unveil an Xbox console with HD DVD capabilities built-in at CES, and has no plans to do so in the future, according to an executive in Microsoft's entertainment business.
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The Xbox 360 is well-positioned to take over the connected living room. So why isn't Microsoft doing a better job promoting it?
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Microsoft covers its high-definition derriÃ¨re CES The format wars have taken another turn this afternoon as Microsoft announced its Xbox 360 console might feature Blu-ray in the near future.â¦
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Sony has won Disney&#39;s support for its Blu-ray Disc (BD) hi-definition video optical format. Disney&#39;s home video operation, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, said it will ship &quot;popular new releases and classic
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Efforts by Microsoft Corp. and the PC industry to expand into to the living room will get a boost next week as they show off technologies that try to balance Hollywood&#39;s piracy fears with the appeal of digital media.
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With the next-generation console battle about to heat up for the holidays, Microsoft Corp. is hoping that going wireless will help draw in consumers to its Xbox 360 system.
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HD DVD or die! Microsoft today stressed that it believes HD DVD is the best optical disc for consumers and that it has no plans to support Blu-ray Disc on the Xbox 360, despite recent comments from company staffers that it might.â¦
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Microsoft is beginning to throw its weight around in the HD DVD/Blu-ray battle, announcing Monday it had teamed with Amazon.com to bring independent films to the format.
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TOKYO -- Microsoft Corp. is introducing an external high-definition DVD player for the Xbox 360 video game console to match the Blu-ray disc functions of Sony Corp.'s upcoming PlayStation 3. The software maker also said yesterday that it will launch the Xbox 360 in India this week and in Africa next week.
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The Blu-ray win means consumers seeking sharper movies on high-definition DVDs no longer have to choose between rival incompatible formats and run the risk of being stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax.
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NEW YORK -- Microsoft Corp. and its hardware partners are trying to bridge the divide between home computers and TV sets this holiday season with the release of several "media extenders."