Ouya system update revamps UI, brings use of external storage to open beta

Ouya has released a new over-the-air update for its console, and keeping with the theme of naming updates after Cryptids, the update has been dubbed Abominable Snowman. It is quite a major update, and one of the biggest new features is an overhauled interface. The update also brings about performance improvements, support for faster system updates and the ability to use external storage through the USB ports.

According to the blog post on Ouya's official website, the ability to use external storage is now in open beta. It supports plug-and-play, so simply plugging a USB drive into the console will get you started. It supports NTFS, FAT32 and ext4 formats. Games installed on external storage are associated with the Ouya they were downloaded from, so users can't use external storage to transfer a game from one console to another.

Now with an improved interface

The Ouya UI has been revamped with a new tile-based interface. The tiles have new icons for installed games and games with available updates. Controller icons now appear for all connected controllers, and will also give an indicator to show how much juice is left in the controller's battery.

Navigation has also been changed a bit. For example, double-tapping the Ouya button on the controller will bring up a System Menu instead of instantly exiting whatever game you were playing. The System Menu allows you to exit games, eject a USB drive, turn off controllers or put the console into sleep mode.

The Ouya is an Android-based console and costs $99. Check out our review.