14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has confirmed that its planned Xbox One firmware update for the month of May has been pushed back into June and has received a couple of major features, such as support for external hard drives, real names in the friends list, or better Live Gold advantages.
The Xbox One was launched in November of last year and, since then, Microsoft has been trying hard to ensure that the console lives up to the expectations of fans by announcing new features and deploying system software updates that fixed issues and enabled different advantages.
After announcing a few of the features from the next system software update for the Xbox One over the weekend, Microsoft has now confirmed some more things that will arrive with the firmware next month.
First and foremost, the new update finally allows Xbox One owners to connect external storage solutions, like portable hard drives, to the console via its two USB 3.0 ports.
"It couldn’t be easier to increase your storage capacity of games and apps with the external storage support features we’re bringing in June. Your Xbox One system will soon support up to two external hard drives at once. Simply plug in your 256 GB or larger USB 3.0 external hard drive and once formatted, copy and move games, apps and game add-ons to increase your storage capacity at home," the company said on the Xbox Wire.
Microsoft also confirms that through external hard drives, players can download a game and take it to a friend's Xbox One. They must then sign in with their Xbox Live account and they'll be able to play the game without downloading any other thing.
Besides this great feature, Microsoft is also going to enable real names on the Xbox Live service with the new firmware update for the Xbox One. This system allows gamers to display their real names along with their gamertags, so that their friends can easily spot and manage them online.
Moreover, new features for the Friends application allow for better content sharing.
"Most importantly, we heard your feedback that to make this most useful you need full control. You’ll be able to share with all your friends, a subset of your choosing, friends of friends or none at all. The choice is yours. Also, your name doesn’t show up in games, and you can change your settings any time from your profile and when adding new friends."
A new Xbox Live Gold benefits area will also be displayed on the Xbox One dashboard, showing the free Games with Gold but also exclusive discounts and more.
Expect the new Xbox One firmware update to go live in early June.