Microsoft has said it will stop making HD DVD players for its Xbox 360 video game console system after Toshiba dropped the format for next-generation DVDs. An estimated 300,000 people own the Microsoft video player, sold as a separate add-on for the Xbox 360. Microsoft was one of HD DVD’s main backers, along with Intel Corp. and the Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. Interestingly, Sony, the backer of the rival Blu-ray disk, sells its PlayStation 3 player with a built-in Blu-ray player.
Microsoft has said it is looking at how the HD DVD technology it has developed, such as HDi, which adds interactive features to DVDs, and its VC-1 video encoding technology, can be applied to other platforms.