A new rumor has spread on the web: Microsoft is secretly working to unveil a Blu-ray Xbox 360. Chinese newspaper Economic Daily News said it has information that the Redmond-based company has signed a deal with an Asus subsidiary, Pegatron Technology, to assemble Xbox 360 systems with a built-in Blu-ray Disc.

Digitmes.com, which was first to break the news, noted also that the new console will be available right in time for this holiday season.

In March, another tech site, TrustedReviews, claimed that a “rock solid source” said that Microsoft is ready to release a new standard version of its Xbox 360 with a 60 GB hard drive, that will replace the current 20 GB hard drive.

TrustedReviews added that the new version is due to be out until the end of Q2 and it seems it will include an internal Blu-ray unit.

After it officially dropped the external HD DVD unit when Toshiba lost the format battle, Microsoft repeatedly denied any intention to integrate a Blu-ray unit.

However, at Mix 08, Steve Ballmer admitted that the company is working on device driver support for Blu-ray drives in Windows. “Toshiba has moved on. We've moved on, and we'll support Blu-ray in ways that make sense", Ballmer said at the time in a comment that was considered also a hint about a future Blu-ray unit for Microsoft’s gaming platform.

Last month, Patrick Klepek from MTV’s Multiplayer blog reported that Microsoft is secretly working on a new accessory for its Xbox 360, that will mimic some of the features of Nintendo’s widely acclaimed Wiimote.

Citing an anonymous source close to the matter, Klepek said that the new controller has “four face buttons, an analog stick and microphone”.

So, let’s imagine for a moment that Microsoft is working on all the projects mentioned above and that it will unveil later this year a new Xbox 360 with a new controller and a Blu-ray unit. Of course, for a reasonable price. Can you imagine what advantages Microsoft will gain in the face of its rivals?

Let’s not forget that nothing was officially confirmed. And yet, we do know that sometimes rumors tend to become reality.