Mark Whittard, general manager of Toshiba’s Information Systems Division in Australia believes that soon, Microsoft will release a XBOX with an integrated HD-DVD.

In an interview for IT Wire in Australia, Mark said:

“I would imagine that there are plans in place to put an HD DVD drive internally in future revisions of the product”

“They’re not speaking about it publicly at the moment but I would expect them to do that and fairly soon.”

On the other hand, Microsoft promised its XBOX users that this Christmas they will have a HD-DVD add-on ready to counterpart Sony’s idea to implement a Blu-Ray unit into it’s upcoming PS3.

But Microsoft also said that it will not change XBOX to create a XBOX unit with an internal HD-DVD unit because it could dizzle the users.

Considering that this november Sony will launch their PS3, who knows what things will change and if Microsoft won’t change their mind.

Describing the battle between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as “one looming potential war” in the HD-DVD/Blu-ray confrontation, Whittard clearly feels the comfort of Microsoft’s backing for HD-DVD - a project that Toshiba is also intimately involved in.

“With Microsoft’s marketing engine behind HD DVD, who knows what will happen,” he told IT Wire.

I guess that if Sony will hit the jackpot with PS3 and that the internal Blu-Ray will be a decisive factor, Microsoft will probably make the move and release an XBOX with internal HD-DVD unit.