Xbox One Update Adds External Hard Drive Support

[Steven Bogos]

Xbox One Update Adds External Hard Drive Support

Xbox One's smartphone companion app: "SmartGlass", has also received a rather substantial update.

Xbox One users were dismayed to find that they couldn't use an external hard drive with their consoles at launch - something that was quickly becoming a problem in this world of 50 GB + game installs [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134178-Wolfenstein-The-New-Order-Requires-50GB-HD-Space-Core-i7-CPU-Update]. Thankfully, a system update rolling out this week finally adds the ability for users to plug in an external drive to their systems. The update also allows users to see their friends' real names on Xbox Live, and use streaming apps such as Netflix and Hulu without a gold subscription.

Updated consoles will support up to two external USB 3.0 compatible hard drives, which will automatically become the default installation location for Xbox One games when connected, but have to have more than 256GB storage to be detected by the console. As an added bonus, you can detach your external hard drive, take it to a friend's place, and use it to play your games on their console.

You can check out the video above, narrated by Microsoft's Richard Irving, for a more detailed explanation of the update's features.

Furthermore, there has also been an update to Microsoft's "SmartGlass" companion app for the console. You can now use your SmartGlass-enabled device to re-order your Xbox One dashboard's pins, watch Twitch game livestreams on your tablet, and control your TV like a universal remote.

The change to Netflix and Hulu was something that Microsoft promised to do [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/134446-Microsoft-to-Drop-Xbox-Live-Gold-Requirement-For-Netflix-Hulu-Update] earlier in the month.

Source: Xbox Wire [http://news.xbox.com/2014/06/xbox-one-june-update-available-starting-today]

Permalink

 

[Eiv]

The more I read about 'updates' for the Xbone, the more and more does it become obvious that it was rushed out the door to compete with the PS4...

I dont think it was rushed, more misdirected in regards to spending most of the time on the UI. Saying that, I do prefer the xbox UI to the PS4 UI.

 

[Sanunes]

The more I read about 'updates' for the Xbone, the more and more does it become obvious that it was rushed out the door to compete with the PS4...

I don't think it was rushed, I think they had to delay features they wanted to add to undo what they were going to implement originally or those changes caused features not to work properly and took time to fix.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

How's the Xbone with HDCP, still have it? I know the PS4 has patched it out (somewhat). What's the upper limit to the size of external drives supported? Hitachi released a 6Tb drive a few months back.

 

[Roxas1359]

How's the Xbone with HDCP, still have it? I know the PS4 has patched it out (somewhat). What's the upper limit to the size of external drives supported? Hitachi released a 6Tb drive a few months back.

Xbox One actually never had HDCP encryption for games on it's HDMI port, so you could record with a capture device directly if you want. Sony received pressure to patch it out because of it, and I say yay to that because I'd rather use my own capture device than the built in one.

Edit: To clarify as well, HDCP encryption gets enabled if you're watching Netflix or Bluray movies still on the Xbox One.

OT: About damn time really. They honestly should have had this at launch like how the Wii U had it at launch since you can't change the internal drives on both systems.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

The more I read about 'updates' for the Xbone, the more and more does it become obvious that it was rushed out the door to compete with the PS4...

I don't think it was rushed, I think they had to delay features they wanted to add to undo what they were going to implement originally or those changes caused features not to work properly and took time to fix.

Wouldn't that make it worse, then? They rushed it out the door before it was ready after they realised the first choice of clothes didn't fit. Seems very unprofessional to me.

 

[llamastorm.games]

The ps4 doesn't have that feature and never will...
Its been 7 months and unless you nearly have every game available its barely been an issue. If it had taken them two years then it'd be an issue.
Moaning for moanings sake.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

He-hey, MS is slowing catching up to the other two and itself from 8 years ago. Now all they gotta do is make a new xbone model with a way to change out the (non-proprietary) HDD without voiding the warranty.

I still would hate having to attach an external drive to a console, therefore still don't see a reason to get an Xbox Uno or PS4. Sony, MS and Ninty dropped the ball big time when the chinced out on the storage. The Wii U could have had 32GB for the cheaper SKU and 64GB for the pricier SKU without adding more than $15 to production costs of each. And we all know 500Gb wasn't enough for a $400+ console with mandatory installs of 30GB or more. At least now they all support USB mass storage, so early adopters aren't completely shafted.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

Edit: whoops, thought I was in the right thread, sorry as for this? Well it's cool I guess but it's still Microsoft playing catch up.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

The ps4 doesn't have that feature and never will...
Its been 7 months and unless you nearly have every game available its barely been an issue. If it had taken them two years then it'd be an issue.
Moaning for moanings sake.

Doesn't the PS4 supports changing the internal HDD, though, something the Xbox doesn't do?

snip

I think you're in the wrong topic.

 

[Chinchama]

Doesn't the PS4 supports changing the internal HDD, though, something the Xbox doesn't do?

It support's changing the internal HDD, but you still can't plug in an external.




The one thing I miss most...being able to plug up an external HDD or flash drive and watch and avi or mp4 file. I wish both systems would add this feature. It doesn't make sense than an Xbox 360 can do this, but neither next gen system can....and maybe if they do add the HDD support and file type support if they could just go ahead bump it up to support mkv files too.

 

[Arawn]

Updated consoles will support up to two external USB 3.0 compatible hard drives, which will automatically become the default installation location for Xbox One games when connected, but have to have more than 256GB storage to be detected by the console. As an added bonus, you can detach your external hard drive, take it to a friend's place, and use it to play your games on their console.

That's nifty and all, but anyone else suddenly miss memory cards? It wasn't long ago that we could just take the disc and the memory card to a friends place and pick up where we left off in our own game. It was a simple but effective method of storing saves. But that seems to be in the past. Games aren't just plug and play anymore. You have to plug, install, and update before actually playing. That was one of the few advantages of console vs PC. Portable save files, and quick to play.

In all honesty there's few times I take a game to a friend's houses. We sometimes have the same games, we sometimes have different games. But rarely do I feel the need to take my version to their place even if I have more things unlocked. They enjoy the challenge just as much as I do. Unlocking things yourself is the point of playing. But that aside, there's not many co-op single player games atm. A majority of the games being played are multiplayer. I just join a private match from my home console. Just doesn't seem like a feature that will be widely utilized. If anything people will go to the home guy with the most in game progress and play there rather than home of the guy with less or none.(although the more experienced guy could go to their place to help) Perhaps I'm thinking incorrectly. Just seems logical that way.

 

[Steven Bogos]

Updated consoles will support up to two external USB 3.0 compatible hard drives, which will automatically become the default installation location for Xbox One games when connected, but have to have more than 256GB storage to be detected by the console. As an added bonus, you can detach your external hard drive, take it to a friend's place, and use it to play your games on their console.

That's nifty and all, but anyone else suddenly miss memory cards? It wasn't long ago that we could just take the disc and the memory card to a friends place and pick up where we left off in our own game. It was a simple but effective method of storing saves. But that seems to be in the past. Games aren't just plug and play anymore. You have to plug, install, and update before actually playing. That was one of the few advantages of console vs PC. Portable save files, and quick to play.

In all honesty there's few times I take a game to a friend's houses. We sometimes have the same games, we sometimes have different games. But rarely do I feel the need to take my version to their place even if I have more things unlocked. They enjoy the challenge just as much as I do. Unlocking things yourself is the point of playing. But that aside, there's not many co-op single player games atm. A majority of the games being played are multiplayer. I just join a private match from my home console. Just doesn't seem like a feature that will be widely utilized. If anything people will go to the home guy with the most in game progress and play there rather than home of the guy with less or none.(although the more experienced guy could go to their place to help) Perhaps I'm thinking incorrectly. Just seems logical that way.

Consoles (at least the Xbox One and the PS4) are basically just watered-down PCs now. All of the disadvantages of a PC with none of its advantages.

 

[Strazdas]

He-hey, MS is slowing catching up to the other two and itself from 8 years ago. Now all they gotta do is make a new xbone model with a way to change out the (non-proprietary) HDD without voiding the warranty.

i hope it doesnt catch to Xbox 360. why? because that one launched with external HDD support with maximum size limit that was LOWER than the average HDD at launch and is laughable 25GB now.

Doesn't the PS4 supports changing the internal HDD, though, something the Xbox doesn't do?

yes, and unlike PS3, it actually supports SSD too. That is, you could put SSD in PS3 but it would give you no benefit due to connection bottleneck, and PS4 does not have that bottleneck (well, it does, but its higher and thus there is a difference between SSD and HDD)

[quote="Arawn" post="7.851736.21058978"
That's nifty and all, but anyone else suddenly miss memory cards? It wasn't long ago that we could just take the disc and the memory card to a friends place and pick up where we left off in our own game. It was a simple but effective method of storing saves. But that seems to be in the past. Games aren't just plug and play anymore. You have to plug, install, and update before actually playing. That was one of the few advantages of console vs PC. Portable save files, and quick to play.[/quote]
i hope noone does. memory cards is one of the most expensive way to store stuff. your much better off with USB storage, its cheaper, and its not really that much alrger that you cant carry it in your pocket. its also more diverse and can be used for multiple purposes more easily as well as it has, well, universal plug.

The current gen consoles are just PCs with features taken out, so of course it wont have console advantages.

 

[FalloutJack]

The more I read about 'updates' for the Xbone, the more and more does it become obvious that it was rushed out the door to compete with the PS4...

I'm racking my brain, trying to remember if there's a Calvin And Hobbes comic that's like this, where we can attribute the Xbone's arrival to Calvin being rushed to school with like half his stuff not on or on properly.

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Doesn't the PS4 supports changing the internal HDD, though, something the Xbox doesn't do?

It support's changing the internal HDD, but you still can't plug in an external.

True, but the Xbox is getting this because you can't change the internal one, so it's not moaning for moaning's sake like that other use said.