In a recent speech at Howard University, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates shared his vision for the Xbox 360 and speculated on the future of next-gen optical disc formats HD DVD and Blu-Ray.

According to Gates, the Xbox 360 will be

“more than 10 times better in terms of the visual realism, the speed, the depth of what you can do”

… however, the real breakthrough will be the console’s connectivity.

Gates outlined that the Xbox 360 would be capable of connecting to a variety of music players and cameras via USB, including the Apple iPod.

He summed it up by saying that

“this box really is about integrating all the different digital sources together and making it very simple.”

Gates’ comments on the future of the HD DVD and Blu-Ray formats were particularly interesting, pointing to a future where optical discs would become obsolete and content delivery would take place via the internet.

In his words,

“The format that’s under discussion right now, HD versus Blu-ray, that’s simply the last physical format we’ll ever have.

Even videos in the future will either be on a disk in your pocket or over the Internet and therefore far more convenient for you.”