Ouya to soon be 'embedded' in other devices

Ouya is expanding beyond the confines of its roughly three-inch cube: The Ouya company plans to start building the Android-based gaming platform into other devices, said Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman in an interview with A-List Daily today.

The console was originally released last July for $99, and Ouya followed up the original box earlier this year with a new model featuring a "refined" controller and double the storage, 16 GB instead of 8 GB, for $129. The company's next step is to bring the platform to new hardware.

"One thing you'll start to see is Ouya on other people's devices," said Uhrman. "We started with a $99 box, but we always wanted to create a console platform that can live on other people's devices. We just knew it was going to take us a little bit of time to get it ready. Now we think the software is good enough, it's ready to be embedded in other people's devices."

According to Uhrman, Ouya officials began discussing the prospect with hardware manufacturers during the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in January, and "the takeup was so great that we're really jumping into the strategy with both feet this year." The company will maintain a baseline standard to ensure compatibility across Ouya and other devices, while the Ouya console itself will remain as a "reference device," said Uhrman.

"Ouya is more than just that reference device, it's an ecosystem that really can live on other people's devices," she added.