Surely we should really be filing this spot of gossip in the 'utter nonsense' tray, before setting fire to the entire stack, but what can I say? Its Sunday evening. Rumour from a 'friend of a friend' of CrunchGear, purports to confirm that Redmond will confirm a Blu-ray enhancement for the Xbox 360 for release this Christmas.

"I’m told MS will upstage Apple with a Monday 9am PDT announcement (1 hour before WWDC) via a press release that the Xbox 360 will get Blu-Ray before Christmas. Price was 'under the current Elite', but I couldn't get any more details," reveals 'JJ'.

Apple are of course expected to unveil a 3G iPhone tomorrow, and there has been speculation of some kind of news ahead of Apple's shindig.

Still, given Microsoft's past assertions that they aren't planning Blu-ray support, and that they're placing their faith in video downloads, this does seem highly unlikely.

Update Microsoft big wig Robbie Bach has dismissed this idle conjecture: "That is so far out that there isn’t anything to talk about,” he told SFGate.

"You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition player. The reality is there is some difference, but most people look at it and say, 'I am not going to pay extra for that.'"

By Luke Guttridge

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  1. no_nonsense Unregistered 7 months ago

    I don't see how a blu-ray xbox 360 announcement will in ANY way affect Apple's announcement.

    Anyone who's interested in blu-ray already owns a PS3 or a blu-ray player!!

  2. Thomas Ryan 7 months ago

    I (like many others I presume) am waiting for the prices to fall DRAMATICALLY before I go ahead and purchase a Blu-Ray player. I paid £100 for my DVD player a few years ago but it came with a 5.1 speaker system too... Blu-Ray really is too expensive at the moment and as Bach says "there is some difference, but most people look at it and say 'I am not going to pay extra for that.'"

    I couldn't agree more!