"Officially, [Microsoft] says the new [Xbox 360] console can stream music from just about any MP3 player. But during a preview of the next-generation console in San Francisco last month, Microsoft execs talked up the interoperability between iPods and the Xbox 360," Daniel Terdiman reports for CNET News. "'When you plug your iPod in,' Xbox digital-entertainment executive producer Jeff Henshaw told CNET News.com, 'the Xbox 360 automatically detects that it's there. You can browse by artist or album or genre or by custom playlist.'"
Terdiman reports, "However, because of the iPod's digital-rights-management software, the Xbox 360 cannot stream songs purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store, Henshaw said. There's a reason for that: Microsoft built its iPod connection without the support of the folks at Apple... Henshaw said the Xbox 360 would be able to stream any standard MP3 file or AAC file from an iPod, but not protected songs purchased through the iTunes Music Store. Those songs, he said, will appear grayed out in menus on the Xbox."
Terdiman reports, "Richard Doherty, president of analyst firm Envisioneering, went so far as to predict that Apple will fight back once the new Xbox launches. 'We expect Apple will have some retaliation ready within days or hours of the Xbox 360 shipping,' Doherty said, referring to potential new iPod firmware or a new version of iTunes that could disable interoperability."
