With HD-DVD out as a viable contender for the next-gen home video format throne, movie studios left and right are now flocking to the last man standing, Sony's Blu-ray media. Even HD-DVD backer Microsoft itself did not appear adverse to taking up the Blu-ray disc format in the near future, provided it was the only real option for consumers. A pragmatic viewpoint, but it makes (business) sense.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer officially announces today at the Mix08 Internet conference in Las Vegas that his company will indeed take part in furthering Blu-ray's development. Thus far Ballmer would only confirm Microsoft's efforts to deliver support for Blu-ray devices in a Windows-based PC environment. Ballmer did not appear ready to address whether or not Microsoft would be planning similiar in-roads for Blu-ray on the Xbox 360 console, which already supports HD-DVD through an external drive.  Baller elaborates via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

"We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on. Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense."

Sony believes Microsoft is in the process of introducing a Blu-ray add-on drive for the Xbox 360, since reportedly Microsoft itself is in talks with Sony to make it happen. Naturally, Microsoft is playing down any such suggestion.