Xbox expands music offering

The next generation of the Xbox will see the games console step closer to becoming the one stop multi-media box. Among the new non-gaming-specific additions will be the facility to plug in an MP3 player and play your digital music collection via the console. Given that you can already rip tracks from CD directly onto your Xbox, this is part of Microsoft's bid to expand the console's music credentials. Ironically the Xbox will be iPod compatible, despite the fact the Apple digital music player is completely incompatible with Microsoft's digital music codec. While Microsoft man Bill Gates recently dissed the Apple player, predicting it will soon lose its dominance in the digital music space, it seem the IT giant wants the Xbox to be as user-friendly as possible, even if that means being compatible with their competitor's technology.