When the drive in the PS3 reads DVD-ROM's, is it reading them slower than the 360?
That's a good question, and one I can't seem to find the answer to.
My guess would be it could technically read them faster since most of the 2x Blu-Ray drives I've seen on sites like NewEgg have a 32x DVD read capability. So as long as it's reading DVDs it could theoretically be an upgrade on the existing 360 drive.
For the PS3 though since no games are being placed on DVDs the drive would never reach this speed, even playing DVD Movies since there's no need to spin the disc any higher than 2x or 4x in that case.
it's the silliest "rumor" yet. the resurrection of a 20x killed rumor, suggested at an impossible price point, and microsoft upstaging iphone 3G by announcing a product almost no one wants? riiiiight.
I have 2 360's I got a 2nd one so when they red ring I have a spare. I am not buying a another one.
I doubt that the 360 will have blue ray. The 720 or whatever will.
I don't think that the next generation of Xbox will have a BR drive. The wishful thinker in me says that they'll shun that technology to try and get a jump start on making digital distribution seamless and super-fast. I mean, they've got a good start - but with the right stuff under the hood, that thing could make a "multimedia hub" that Sony would get all weepy about. (And then they'd accuse Microsoft of stealing their idea[s].)
The next round of the console war might be more fun to watch than the current one, the more I think about it.
Eh, I don't think WWDC is going to be that big this year. There's the 3G iPhone, but I don't think it'll get the fanfare the first one did. There are rumblings about an announcement for 10.6, but all the rumblings are that it's going to be a fairly minor release, focused on ironing out the problems with the relatively unpolished 10.5. There might be a Macbook update, but that should just be updated specs.
Really, unless Jobs pulls something like the fabled Mac Tablet out of his hat (which would be shocking simply because there have been no rumors at all of anything like that in the leadup to WWDC), I just don't think WWDC is going to be that big a deal this year.
Gyah. Just after I ordered my first 360, they go and start with the rumours of a BluRay one, and now it's looking a bit more likely. Goddamn them all!
I wouldn't care if they didn't release any games in the future on bluray, but then if I had a console that could play them I could at least hook it up to the HDTV in the other room easily...
If they wanted to upstage Apple they'd announce a deal with Sirius/XM for a new Zune that includes satellite radio support - like a Stiletto only with more functionality.
If they wanted to upstage Apple they'd announce a deal with Sirius/XM for a new Zune that includes satellite radio support - like a Stiletto only with more functionality.
A re-modeled Zune (Zune 3.0 - I'm thinking a little slimmer) with 120gb of memory... and then have a new tier in their subscription service: unlimited downloads (like their current $14.95/month tier) PLUS Sirius/XM stations included in the subscription for something like $19.99-$24.99/month?
I'd jump to that SO quick. And I think that would definitely be huge.
Robbie Bach manages to deftly deny the rumored Xbox / Blu-Ray match-up, deny a Zune Phone is coming anytime soon (although he intimates Zune software may come to phones), but still cleverly suggests that a Zune Touch could be in the offing.
I wouldn't bet on a built in blu-ray drive, but I think an add-on external drive ala the hd-dvd drive is a sure bet. I'd love for the next gen Xbox to be purely digital, but I really doubt it. In order for digital download to be viable it has to outperform BluRay, or at least compete. That means the capability to deliver (up to) 60gb games in something like a reasonable amount of time and at a price that's going to be comparable to producing and delivering a BluRay disc, which is probably plummeting in price as we speak.
Maybe two generations down the line the average user's download speeds will be such that digital delivery makes sense, but I don't think we're going to be there in 2-3 years.
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"Not everyone with a large vocabulary is pretentious; and not everyone with a small vocabulary is humble." - Wonka
Also, I agree that it won't be a particularly ground breaking year. Zune 3.0 is a certainty, and I think the Sirius functionality is both intriguing and possible. Some sort of touch functionality is also probably a pretty safe bet.
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"Not everyone with a large vocabulary is pretentious; and not everyone with a small vocabulary is humble." - Wonka
Has anyone really been holding off buying an Xbox because they're hoping for a BR upgrade? At this point in the game, it makes no sense for MS to waste the money putting one out.