Sony Courts Apple, Microsoft for Blu-ray

Peter Cohen, Macworld

Monday, March 10, 2008 9:30 AM PDT

Sony is talking with Apple and Microsoft about offering Blu-ray Disc drives for their systems, according to Sony Electronics US president Stan Glasgow.

Glasgow revealed that Sony has talked with both Apple and Microsoft during a recent media dinner, as reported by the Financial Times.

Blu-ray Disc is the heir apparent to the high-definition optical drive market following HD DVD maker Toshiba's decision to stop manufacturing its rival format. Toshiba made the decision after several high-profile companies turned their back on the format, including Warner Bros., Netflix and Wal-Mart.

While some companies have begun to include Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD drives as options in their computers, Apple has stayed on the sidelines, preferring the ubiquitous DVD format. Its machines include "SuperDrives" that can burn dual layer or double layer recordable DVDs, storing up to 8.5GB per platter.

Microsoft has emphasized HD DVD as a peripheral add-on for its Xbox 360 platform, but standardized on DVD as the format for commercial games for the system. With HD DVD now in decline, the company could instead offer a Blu-ray Disc peripheral for the Xbox 360 instead.

Apple routinely does not comment about product plans prior to their official introduction. Microsoft declined to confirm any talks when asked by the Financial Times.

Macworld UK provided information used in this report.

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