Speaking at the University of Washington this Thursday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dropped a tidbit that may point towards more Xbox form factors in the future.
As Gearlog reports, Ballmer gave the following response when asked about the company’s approach to collaborating with hardware partners (hardware diversity versus variety):
In the case of the TV we’ve got both strategies. We actually have a TV implementation in some senses built into Windows. It works really well for small screen TVs that you might call a PC, but for that big screen device here’s a piece of hardware that we build, there’s no diversity. You get exactly the Xboxes that we build for you. We may have more form factors in the future that are designed for various price points and options, but we think it’s going to [be] important.
That last sentence is key — it hints that the company may be eying different implementations of the Xbox hardware.
This news isn’t exactly new. Last year, Microsoft signed a deal with British Sky Broadcasting to stream premium television content on the Xbox across Europe — making it almost like a cable box. The company has also long hinted at how the Xbox 360 could replace cable boxes in the U.S. The console isn’t quite there yet, but recent news shows how the Xbox could be used to stream AT&T Uverse content in conjunction with a traditional IPTV cable box.
Microsoft reps reported that the console’s heat and hardware reliability issues prevented it from fully replacing the cable box, and Microsoft will definitely have to solve those issues before it moves forward with other form factors. Sony was able to release a slimmed down version of the Playstation 3 last September, but today’s Xbox still has the same form factor as when the console launched in late 2005. There have been internal hardware changes related to the Red Ring of Death issue plaguing the console, but beyond that not much has changed.
Once Microsoft figures out the hardware issues, perhaps we will see a slimmer console, along with Xbox 360 technology included within other set-top boxes.