Microsoft Denies Xbox Blu-ray, Zune Phone

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Microsoft's Robbie Bach again puts down speculation of a Zune phone and the Xbox 360 getting a Blu-ray drive.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, the president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division again re-iterated Microsoft’s stance on two topics that just won’t seem to go away: the Xbox 360 game console getting a Blu-ray drive, and Microsoft producing a Zune phone.

On the topic a Zune phone, Bach was very clear: Microsoft already sells 3G mobile phone technology, and it’s called Windows Mobile. Bach—who also manages Microsoft’s Windows Mobile hardware group—sees the growth of the smartphone market as a tremendous opportunity for Microsoft, and predicts Windows Mobile devices will outsell the iPhone and the BlackBerry. But Microsoft itself doesn’t make phones, and has no intention of getting in to the handset business. Instead, it aims to provide the software platform with which phone makers can create different handsets that appeal to different types of users.

As far as the Xbox 360 getting a Blu-ray drive, Bach is looking to Microsoft’s Xbox Live download service as a way for Xbox 360 owners to get high-definition content, and actually touts its advantages over disc-based media, since users don’t need to set hands on physical media from a retailer. Bach noted how the Blu-ray market hasn’t really taken off with the demise of HD DVD, and that comparatively few consumers are willing to pay a significant amount for the perceive picture improvement between an upscaled standard DVD and a high-definition disk. Looking forward, Bach said it’s too soon to even speculate whether a next-generation Xbox would include a Blu-ray player.