Going by the screenshots and documentation posted on game blog Joystiq, Microsoft intends a late this year firmware update for its Xbox 360 system software, whereby a USB memory device will be added to support the console.

The blog post quotes a supposed memo from Microsoft's 'senior software development engineer' noting that "USB mass storage device support on Xbox 360" is essential, given the "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high-throughput USB mass storage devices."

According to Joystiq, the USB memory device, which will be available as part of the spring system update by Microsoft, will turn any USB-based storage device - an external hard drive or a flash drive - into a up to 16GB memory source that will function similar to the Xbox 360 hard drive and memory units.

Furthermore, the addition of USB mass storage device support will enable the console users to copy games to the USB-based storage devices; thereby not only doing away with the need to spin up the disc drive of the 360, but also saving Live Arcade games, movies, and downloadable content.

However, since the system restricts the number of USB mass storage devices to only two; users can have two versatile 16GB partitions, totaling up to an additional 32GB of storage, over and above the hard drive that the users already possess.