Blu-ray Victory Won't Budge Microsoft

Despite the emergence of Sony's(SNE Quote) Blu-ray high-definition video format as the new industry standard, Microsoft(MSFT Quote) is likely to go its own way, analysts say.

Instead of offering a Blu-ray player as an accessory to Xbox 360 buyers, Microsoft, which was closely identified with the HD DVD high-definition format, hopes to win the battle for the digital living room by developing its Xbox Live online download service.

That strategy is designed to get consumers to bypass standalone players and hooked to downloading high-definition video content, analysts say. ...