Ballmer hints at new Xbox form factors?

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer apparently hinted at new form factors for Xbox 360 during a University of Washington Q&A last Thursday.

Ballmer was speaking about how Microsoft has a mixture of strategies for approaching TV, including "a TV implementation in some senses built into Windows", and of course the Xbox business.

"It works really well for small screen TVs that you might call a PC," Ballmer said of the Windows option (thanks Gearlog, via Kotaku), "but for that big-screen device here's a piece of hardware that we build, there's no diversity. You get exactly the Xboxes that we build for you.

"We may have more form factors in the future that are designed for various price points and options, but we think it's going to [be] important."

Rumours have previously spread of a secret Microsoft plan to bundle Project Natal with Xbox 360 following the hands-free controller system's launch this year, although there's been no word of that since.

It's also difficult to tell whether Ballmer's comments specifically refer to Xbox revisions, or whether he is answering the broader question of Microsoft's approach to TV, in which case the talk of "more form factors" may mean something else entirely.

But hey, Steve Ballmer mentioned Xbox! It's catnip.