Rumour: Microsoft to outsource XBox360 hardware

From 1 up

We'll tell you what's up with Microsoft: new hardware options. It may sound totally insane -- trust us, we did a double-take the first time Qmann whispered it in our ears -- but word has it that Microsoft may begin allowing third-party manufacturers to create Xbox 360 hardware. And we're not talking about peripherals, people; we mean hardware that runs 360 game discs created by someone other than Microsoft. It's a novel way of dealing with that red ring issue, don't you think?

This might not be such a big deal as is sounds, as its been done before, Panasonic made a Gamecube with a DVD player called the Q that was released in Japan. Sega also licensed out Dreamcast technology to Pace (a European company that make the decoders for SKY tv), which ultimately never got past the prototyping stage.

But an Xbox 360 with built-in Blu-ray support could be on the cards if this is true....