Although it was widely rumored that Microsoft is in talks in Sony to unveil a BluRay unit for its Xbox 360 or a new version of its gaming console, it seems like in fact the information it was nothing just pure speculation and wishful thinking.

In an interview with Reuters, Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, said very clear that the Redmond giant doesn’t started any talks about a BluRay unit.

"Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience," Greenberg said.

He is the same guy that during this year CES, after Warner Bros announce their support for  admitted in an interview with Reuters that the company could consider a BluRay drive for Xbox 360, if the consumers will demand such a feature.

In addition, at Mix 08 Steve Ballmer admitted that the company is working on device driver support for Blu-ray drives in Windows. “Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense", Ballmer said.

But it seems that Microsoft doesn’t feel like adding an internal unit to its Xbox 360. Despite being one of the supporters of HD DVD format, Microsoft unveiled only an external unit and its decision is cited as one of the reasons of the failure of HD DVD.

Right before CES, there were rumors that Microsoft is working to unveil a new Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD unit, but Microsoft downplayed the rumors.

It seems like instead integrating an optical unit, Microsoft will promote its Xbox Live Service as a download hub for high definition content.

"We're the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content," Greenberg said for Reuters.

However, until the problem with the high definition unit will be sorted out, Microsoft has slashed the price of its Xbox 360 in Europe.

Starting this Friday the Xbox 360 standard version, which included a 20 GB hard drive will cost only 269.99 euros/£199.99, which is means that the console is now with 80 euros/£50 cheaper. The Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a 120GB hard drive, will have a price of 369.99 euros/£259.99.
The big surprise is the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade console which costs now only 199.99 euros/£159.99 and is now cheaper than a Nintendo Wii.

Tomorrow, NPD Group, the research company which tracks the gaming sales will release its report for February. According to the latest data released by NPD Group, in January in the US, Sony sold 269,000 PS3s, 5,000 units less than Nintendo Wii, but 39,000 more than Microsoft. Microsoft blamed the figures on its inability to anticipate strong post-holiday demand. For February, it is expected that the PS3 will outsell again the Xbox 360.