Why Microsoft Won't Have Blu-ray on the Xbox

Ian Lamont writes "Ever since Toshiba stopped production of HD DVD players, many Xbox 360 owners have been wondering when Microsoft will offer some sort of Blu-ray option for the Xbox 360. The answer: Probably never. Microsoft's product manager for the Xbox 360 has told Reuters that Microsoft is not in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association. Why not? The Industry Standard points to HDi, an obscure Microsoft technology that was part of the HD DVD interactivity layer. HDi may be dead on physical media, but it could potentially be applied to other Microsoft HD-compatible technologies such as Xbox Live Arcade and Windows Media Center, and be part of a long-term play to own a big share of the market for HD content delivered over the Internet."

Another reason...

[oahazmatt]

Another reason for not including Blu-Ray capabilities... Like I'd be able to hear the movie?

This isn't a troll. I love my 360, I do. But I've used it to watch DVDs and stream videos from my laptop, and honestly, even in the most well-ventilated of spaces, the console is just too loud for me to enjoy it as a media center at all.

Re:So when you want Blu-ray content...

[Dorkmaster Flek]

It makes perfect sense if you realize that the PS3 is the only really future-proof Blu-ray player on the market right now. That, and the fact that it's almost the same price as a stand-alone player, plus you can play games, media, and install Linux on it.

This sucks

[rikkards]

XBox Live is about to take a kick in the teeth in Canada. Rogers has announced that they will start capping their bandwidth this June. If you go over it will cost you $2/gig (up to $25) extra per month. Until now we have been fortunate. Not sure if Microsoft has taken something like this change into account especially with higher quality videos creating larger data costs for the end user. At this point if no Blu-Ray player is coming, I go out and buy a separate Blu-Ray player (or PS3) and rent movies than risk going over my limit. I already pay Rogers enough.

Re:Blurry Compatible

[Anonymous Coward]

The barrier isn't the physical means with which to read the media, it's in the licensing required to read and process the data written to the discs. MS would have to pay dues to the Blu-Ray Association if they wished to release any device capable of reading BR-D.

Um, ah, Microsoft and Corel are partners

[microbox]

M$ bought a huge chunk of Corel [geek.com], and probably control the company these days. I'm never seen any analysis of the fallout of this deal, it was a while ago.

Re:The reason is simple...

[pabrown85]

No, but it's indeed why we can't get in on Linux.

Re:Doesn't make sense

[xtracto]

Howdy shit yeah, now that Sony has a monopoly over Blu ray, just sharing that monopoly with [wikipedia.org]

* Acer Corporation
* Alpine Electronics Inc.
* Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd.
* Ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG
* Bandai Visual Co. Ltd.
* BASF AG
* Basler Vision Technologies
* BenQ Corporation
* B.H.A. Corporation
* Bose Corporation
* B&W Group
* The Cannery
* Cheertek Inc.
* Cinram Manufacturing Inc.
* D&M Holdings, Inc.
* Daewoo Electronics Corporation
* Daikin Industries, Ltd.
* Daxon Technology Inc.
* Degussa
* Eclipse Data Technologies
* Elpida Memory, Inc.
* ESS Technology Inc.
* Expert Magnetics Corp.
* Fujitsu Ten Ltd.
* Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
* GalleryPlayer Media Networks
* GEAR Software
* Hie Electronics, Inc.
* Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd.
* IMAGICA Corp.
* INFODISC Technology Co., Ltd.
* Infomedia Inc.
* Intersil Corporation
* Kadokawa Holdings Inc.
* Kaleidescape, Inc.
* Kitano Co., Ltd.
* Konica Minolta Opto Inc.
* Laser Pacific Media Corp.
* Lauda Co. Ltd.
* Lead Data Inc.
* LEADER ELECTRONICS CORP
* Lenovo
* Linn Products Ltd.
* LINTEC Corporation
* M2 Engineering AB
* MainConcept AG
* Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd.
* Must Technology Co., Ltd.
* MX Entertainment
* Netflix Inc.
* NewTech Infosystems Inc. (NTI)
* NEXAPM Systems Technology Inc.
* Nichia Corporation
* Nikkatsu Corporation
* NTT Electronics Corporation
* nVidia Corporation
* OC Oerlikon Balzers AG
* Omnibus Japan Inc.
* Onkyo Corporation
* Online Media Technologies Ltd.
* Ono Sokki Co., Ltd.
* OPT Corporation
* Orbit Corp.
* Origin Electric Co., Ltd.
* Osmosys SA
* Pinnacle Systems
* PoINT Software & Systems GmbH
* Pony Canyon Enterprise
* PowerFile
* Primera Technology, Inc.
* Quanta Storage Inc.
* Realtek S

Re:Eventually ...

[Trepalium]

Yes, the Blu-ray standard supports 1080p. [blu-ray.com] Finding a movie encoded at 1080p and a player capable of 1080p output is the harder part. HD-DVD and Blu-ray supports flung so much misinformation at each other, it's hard to know what is truth and what is fiction these days. Suffice to say, both standards are more alike than they are different.

Re:The reason is simple...

[Frantix]

M$, windoze... I'm sure you can fit more acrimonious spelling in there. Wow and just when I thought everyone was moderately mature here.

As far as I know Office has been there for a very long time and part of their way of securing the original Mac OS before it's release.

Re:Um, ah, Microsoft and Corel are partners

[michael path]

This is simply not correct. Microsoft's share was purchased by Vector Capital acquired Microsoft's share [wohl.com], before buying the company outright [wikipedia.org].

DLC is not true HD

[HalAtWork]

The videos are only 720p, the bitrate is not high, and it's a problem to transport the videos to bring to someone else's house to watch (you have to bring your 360) much less another room in the house. You can't purchase movies and keep them, and it costs $6 to rent one. You need a Live account. The selection is not that great. Although it might be a good companion, it's just not a suitable replacement for Blu-Ray.

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