Chief executive of Microsoft Steve Ballmer has confirmed that his firm is looking at ways to back the HD format Blu-ray.

While Ballmer avoided linking his announcement directly with the Xbox 360, he admitted Microsoft is ready to move on following the demise of HD-DVD.

"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," said Ballmer at the Mix08 conference.

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

Recent news of Sony holding talks with Microsoft has led to many industry insiders expecting the US firm to announce an add-on Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360.

> Toshiba confirms death of HD-DVD