Xbox 360 Firmware Upgrade Introduces External USB Storage

Those looking to add extra capacity to their Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming console will be happy to learn that the latest firmware update for the gaming console adds support for an external USB drive.

Unfortunately - and understandably - Microsoft has limited the maximum amount of space accessible to 16GB although you should be able to get up to 32GB thanks to the two USB ports available on the console.

Microsoft suggests that you use USB flash drives rather than external hard disk drives to allow the gamer to get a "much better experience". Users will be able to use the extra storage to store gamer profiles, saved games, demos and a large array of Xbox Live marketplace content. 

In related news, Sandisk has partnered with Microsoft to launch official USB flash drives for the console at a cost of $40 and $70 for the 8GB and the 16GB models respectively which are rather expensive to say the least although they do include one month worth of LIVE gold membership.

Microsoft has been very aggressive lately when it comes to third party storage device compatibility, so much so that it has been accused by Datel of trying to squeeze out all the third party storage manufacturers.