Microsoft hedging its bets about Blu-ray – still "talking to" Sony

jeff-bell-microsoft-blu-ray-hdi.jpgMicrosoft’s Jeff Bell, who has a really long job title so is clearly very important and must have an awesome car, says MS has “been talking to Blu-ray all along.”

The two-faced gits!

Although it hasn’t been talking about putting Blu-ray drives into Xbox 360s or anything as dramatic – it’s been trying to convince Team BR to use Microsoft’s HDi software, the clever bit of technology that added all the extra features to HD DVD…

Opinion: Is Apple a bigger danger to our lives than Microsoft?

Jon_smal.gifJonathan Weinberg writes… I thought I could rely on Apple so this morning I awoke to disappointment in Steve Jobs after his Macworld announcements yesterday. I was sure he’d launch a new iPhone with either 3G or bigger storage memory, thus annoying the FOUR MILLION people who have now, like cult followers, signed up to the iPhone religion.

But it was a clever move. Save that announcement for a couple of months time, and bring a second-generation device out around a year after the first and no-one can have any complaints… can they? After all, technology is always changing and those of us who spend fortunes on gadgets and gizmos, only to see them bettered just weeks later, are fools of our own making. I do it, as much as you…

CES 2008: Microsoft confirms open to idea of Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360

xbox-360-blu-ray.pngIt’s tempting to see every positive news development for Blu-ray as another nail in the coffin of HD DVD at the moment, which is simplifying the format war somewhat. But it’s a fact that Microsoft is key to any chance that HD DVD will survive, so the news that the company hasn’t ruled out releasing a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360 will certainly cause a few ripples.

Rumours abound that Paramount is the latest studio to drop HD DVD in favour of Blu-ray

paramount-logo-2.jpgFurther hammering the nail into HD DVD’s coffin, it appears Paramount is the latest film studio to drop the high-def format, after reports today from the Financial Times suggested they’re following Warner Brothers’ decision on Friday to back Blu-ray.

Paramount, DreamWorks Animation and Universal are the only real feathers to the format’s cap, and to lose another…