Tonight at CES, Microsoft's VP Peter Moore that they plan to produce an external disc drive that will read Toshiba's HD-DVD disks. This comes as huge news, as tech critics have slammed Microsoft's lack of including a 'next-gen' DVD player on their system.
While this may be for movies only, it does help them get create a stepping stone when trying to compete with Sony's Blu-Ray technology, likely to appear on the PS3.
Many viewed Microsoft's decision to skimp out on a next-generation disc drive as controversial in lieu of Sony's inclusion of Blu-ray into PlayStation 3. Tonight's announcement helps sidestep that problem, but unless Microsoft decides to splinter their userbase (after splitting them via the dual SKU), the HD-DVD drive will likely remain movies-only.
Much of the reason for developing the external HD-DVD drive seems to be fueled by Microsoft statistics researched by Penn, Schoen, Berland & Associates. Their research shows 90% of Xbox 360 owners own or intend to purchase an HDTV in the six months, nine out of 10 of the people purchasing an HDTV cite Xbox 360 as the primary catalyst, and 10% of those with an HDTV also purchased an Xbox 360 simultaneously.
There's little surprise the amount of users taking advantage of and picking up HDTV sets is accelerating due to more devices that take advantage of high-definition. "Xbox 360 is a high-definition growth engine for Microsoft and our entertainment, broadband provider, consumer electronic, and retail partners," said Moore.
While this may be for movies only, it does help them get create a stepping stone when trying to compete with Sony's Blu-Ray technology, likely to appear on the PS3.
Many viewed Microsoft's decision to skimp out on a next-generation disc drive as controversial in lieu of Sony's inclusion of Blu-ray into PlayStation 3. Tonight's announcement helps sidestep that problem, but unless Microsoft decides to splinter their userbase (after splitting them via the dual SKU), the HD-DVD drive will likely remain movies-only.
Much of the reason for developing the external HD-DVD drive seems to be fueled by Microsoft statistics researched by Penn, Schoen, Berland & Associates. Their research shows 90% of Xbox 360 owners own or intend to purchase an HDTV in the six months, nine out of 10 of the people purchasing an HDTV cite Xbox 360 as the primary catalyst, and 10% of those with an HDTV also purchased an Xbox 360 simultaneously.
There's little surprise the amount of users taking advantage of and picking up HDTV sets is accelerating due to more devices that take advantage of high-definition. "Xbox 360 is a high-definition growth engine for Microsoft and our entertainment, broadband provider, consumer electronic, and retail partners," said Moore.