Xbox 360 owners will shortly be able to use generic USB flash drives to store profiles, game saves and other data according to Microsoft who are planning a major upgrade on the 6th of April 2010.The Xbox 360 already has USB ports for plugging in media devices, and the expanded support means that gamers won’t need to rely on proprietary memory units to store their data. Those proprietary units, which plug into different ports, are the subject of ongoing litigation between Microsoft and Datel Design.Seattle based TechFlash claimed that Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson, has more details on the USB support in this post on his blog. “I’ve been testing this feature out for a few weeks, and I have to say it’s really great,” he writes. “Once you take the system update on April 6, you’ll be able to connect your USB flash drives to your console and head over to the memory section to configure your new storage device. Once you do that, the system will conduct a one time performance and integrity check to confirm the drive is working properly. You will then be able to configure how much storage to use on the device, up to 16 GB.”
Hryb notes that Microsoft will work with SanDisk to offer a preconfigured, Xbox 360-branded USB memory stick, but any USB flash drive can be used.
