New Ouya Update Introduces Muffi, Announces Change To Hardware

Ouya, the $99 Kickstarter-funded Android console, has released a new email update to its backers. The update introduces Muffi Ghadiali, a key member of the hardware design team, and announces an important change to the hardware design.

We've printed the full text of the email below. In his message to fans, Ghadiali reveals his long background in technology design, including time spent working on the Kindle Fire. He also says that -- in response to fan requests -- an Ethernet port is being added to the Ouya. However, he cautions not to expect many changes to the fundamental design of the console -- which he claims can easily be manufactured for under $99, despite what some online critics have said.

UPDATE:

Project Update #3: Welcome Muffi!

So it’s time for us to reveal our secret weapon, someone who has been working with us tirelessly behind the scenes to bring OUYA to life, and today we’re pulling back the curtain.

Meet Muffi Ghadiali from our team, who is in charge of making the OUYA product, hardware and software. 

Muffi joined OUYA from Lab126, a part of Amazon, where he worked on the Kindle line of products. 

I thought it would be best if you heard directly from him, so he wrote to you...

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Kickstarters!

I’m Muffi, and I want to tell you a little bit about what we’re working on at OUYA. 

I came out of Lab126’s product team where I worked on the Kindle line -- hardware and software. I worked every day with engineering, product design, industrial design, operations, supply chain, and QA teams. 

I joined OUYA because I saw--early on--the potential for an open technology to change how gaming works. Gamers are unique. They are sophisticated and they follow products from the first idea all the way to market. For a product guy like me, that's exciting. We're getting a lot of feedback, great support and lots of questions. Sometimes those are tough questions but they keep me at the top of my game. It's pretty cool that Kickstarter facilitates a direct dialogue with future users. 

My job at OUYA is to ensure that we meet the needs of gamers and developers. 

In short, I’m here to deliver OUYA.

I know from experience that this can be done:

• I’ve built consumer technology products for more than 15 years--both hardware and software. I’ve worked on set-top boxes, media streaming devices, handheld devices, content services, and other big consumer products. 
• I’ve been playing a key role in designing the path that will take OUYA to market, from technology to production. 
• And while it may seem aggressive, the technology here is actually fairly standard. We’re not building a hovercraft or a nano-bot.
• If you look online at the teardowns of other devices with some of the same components, you’ll see that our device can be built for well under $99. 
• What IS innovative is the beautiful design from Yves Behar, and our model for working with game developers. From my perspective, I’m tackling the easy part. 

So here’s what we’re doing now...

• Developers, we’re working to get an SDK in your hands as fast as we can, please be patient. It will be pretty simple to start, using the existing Android SDK and adding the ability to promote your game, and to charge OUYA customers. We’ll add to it as we go.
• We’re getting our ducks in a row on the hardware production. NVIDIA is helping us with production designs, and selecting the right device manufacturer. We’re in talks with a few manufacturers. I was just playing with our circuit board yesterday.
• NVIDIA is also helping us maximize the performance of our Tegra 3 chips -- they’ll work even better than the demos you see online. We’ll be able to support some intense games.

And we heard your feedback: yes, yes, we’ll add an Ethernet jack. We have a lot of consoles to make, so I wouldn’t expect too many more changes to the spec. 

Please keep sending your comments. We are doing everything to deliver for you.

Thanks!

Muffi

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Again, thank you to the almost 40,000 of you (!!) who are backing OUYA -- we can’t wait to get it in your hands. 

Julie

P.S. Muffi is also hiring some engineers to join our team. So if you know the Android OS well, and want to help us make OUYA, hit us up. (We bet you can figure out a way to get in touch with him...)

Related: Previous Ouya Update