Microsoft is not in talks to include Sony's Blu-ray technology in its Xbox 360 video game console, an executive said on Wednesday. The comments by Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, poured cold water on recent speculation that Microsoft could support Blu-ray after Toshiba gave up HD DVD technology.

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

The news comes just one week after Microsoft'CEo, Steve Ballmer, echoed at the Mix08 conference that the company was in talks over possible moves for supporting Blu-ray in Windows.

"We've already been working on, for example, in Windows, device driver support for Blu-ray drives and the like, and I think the world moves on," he said then.

"Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense," he added.

However, Greenberg's comments clarify Ballmer's original statements as focusing purely on the Windows environment.

Greenberg's comments also contradict what American Sony president Stan Glasgow had recently revealed - that the two companies were in talks over Blu-ray hardware.

Microsoft, which has stopped making an HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360, would continue to invest in its Xbox Live online service that already lets users rent hundreds of movies, including ones in high-definition.

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

Microsoft believes that the Xbox 360 has a significantly better value than Sony's PS3. "

Every month we've actually been in stock we've outsold them by a 2 to 1 margin," Greenberg said.