Remember that bit of Steve Ballmer loose lip that went down many hours prior to this very second? During an interview, Steve was quoted as saying not specifically saying that Xbox 360 hardware was to see Blu-ray add-on accessories, but that if the Xbox were to get Blu-ray, it would be via external forms. Many including myself took this as a sort of admission by omission if you know what I mean. Side stepping hot topics often leaves the Balms in a stuttering incoherent state, this wasn’t anything new.
Well, I’ve got a spoiler for ya. According to Major Nelson, during the now infamous interview, Steve Ballmer was apparently referring to Blue-ray accessories for PC’s. Case closed. No Xbox/Blu-ray love. Though Major Nelson does go on to highlight the importance of the Xbox platforms upcoming support for 1080p HD streaming — a first I believe.
So are you broken hearted? Or did you give up physical media years ago?
Major Nelson
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**Update: Ya, not so much. ‘ol Stevie was off his rocker and was probably confused. That’s what Major Nelson is saying anyway.
Thank you Mr. Steve “The Balms” Ballmer for your clownish persona and loose lips. You may have just given us some hope for ways of enjoying HD content other than Xbox live. In an interview with Gizmodo’s Wilson Rothman, Steve Ballmer says the following when questioned about the potential for Blu-ray support coming to the Xbox line:
Well I don’t know if we need to put Blu-ray in there—you’ll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories.
Well, cat’s outta the bag on that one. While PR is busy with damage control and trying to hopelessly conceal any Xbox Blue-ray support by way of the typical “we have no plans excuse”, we can simply turn to Steve Ballmer for any undying questions we have. The Balms speaks no lie.
Of course, Ballmer isn’t exactly the most eloquent speaker nor does he seem to always have a firm grasp on internal operations. This revelation by Ballmer could also be a simple statement taken the wrong way. For example, claiming that we’d have to have an external Blu-ray drive could simply mean that there is absolutely “Zero” chances of every seeing the most requested feature offered internally.
Clearly there is plenty of room for interpretation and speculation. I would love to see a Blu-ray drive as I have a growing collection. Though being a digital person myself, the digital only method makes more sense. Who wants to be tied to a physical format? Of course, if I’m to truly embrace going completely digital, companies and “content owners” are going to have to stop being the assholes they currently are and allow to copy my legally paid for digital content. In reality, I do it anyway. So they don’t have to let me. Though doing so without fear of prosecution might help me sleep at night.
Gizmodo
While Steve Ballmer aka “The Balms” may be steadfast on his belief and assertion that Windows Mobile will always be a single OS in the sense that their won’t be several tiers like the desktop variant, new information that is coming out seems to suggest otherwise. With the recent leak of the HTC Leo ROM which incorporates the new TouchFlo 3D 2.6, we can see that the interface appears to be moving more towards the finger users in the world and eschewing the trusty but old stylus. Further adding fuel to the good ‘ol rumor fire comes by way of DigiTimes with new information that an actual “Touch Interface” update to Windows Mobile 6.5 is due out sometime around February 2010. Now, this upgrade won’t be a new OS, merely an update to the October 1st release of Windows Mobile 6.5. Windows Mobile 7 on the other hand isn’t slated for public consumption until long into next year — Q4 of 2010 to be exact. So why bring a touch interface update to 6.5 later in the game?
