Ever since the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD resulted in an unanimous victory for Blu-ray, speculation about the possibility of Microsoft joining the Blu-ray community has popped up at times. There hasn’t been a definite answer, but perhaps a story from X-bit labs can shine some light on this situation.

According to X-bit, Toshiba and Samsung have teamed to fill a contract that will enable the companies to manufacture external Blu-ray disc drives to use with the Xbox 360. The report also states that Microsoft may be planning to sell the drives between $100 and $150. Microsoft has not confirmed or denied (as it tends to do when asked questions) this deal to the public.

Bringing Blu-ray movies to the Xbox 360 would be a serious thorn in Sony’s spine. If it did sell for $100, then we could purchase a 20GB Xbox 360 with a Blu-ray drive for a little over $350, which is still cheaper than than a PS3. Microsoft’s continuing efforts of wittleling away at Sony’s exclusive products and technology could give Microsoft a leg up in retaining its #2 position in home console sales.