Video game streaming company has announced a free, streaming, virtual Microsoft Windows 7 desktop app for the iPad. The OnLive Desktop app,, will eventually expand to other platforms -- including the Mac. Users will have access to full-featured versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, less than a week after CloudOn its Office solution for the iPad. GigaOm has about how the service will work: Since applications are running on high-end computing clusters in OnLive’s data centers, the only thing holding back performance is the network. Which means that in today’s world of pervasive broadband connectivity, Windows applications running on an iPad could potentially be faster than those running on a standard Windows 7 laptop.
OnLive's virtual Windows 7 / Office app for the iPad has arrived on the App Store. As we reported earlier this week, OnLive Desktop offers iPad users access to full-featured versions of Microsoft.
OnLive is making the Desktop app available in a freemium model through which users will get 2GB worth of cloud storage and the ability to use Windows 7 applications such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint, as well as other utilities and games. Documents can be stored in the cloud and accessed from any device with a web interface. In the near future, OnLive expects to launch Onlive Desktop Pro, a more robust service that will offer up 50 GB of storage, priority access, additional apps and other features for $9.99 a month.
It also promises collaboration features for enterprise users such as sharing documents or working on virtual whiteboards.The Verge that when they tried the app at OnLive HQ, there was 'a little bit of perceptible lag, it's pretty impressive manipulating objects with our fingers and flipping through PowerPoint presentations on a desktop miles away.' OnLive iPad and iPhone support for its gaming products, though those apps have yet to be publicly released. Available this Thursday in the U.S. And 'soon' in the UK, OnLive Desktop for the iPad will be free on the App Store.
In its, promises the app will deliver “the latest, top-tier, high-performance games,” to the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad: OnLive, Inc., the pioneer of cloud gaming, announced that it is bringing console-class gaming to tablets and phones with the revolutionary OnLive app for tablet and mobile platforms. The latest, top-tier, high-performance games—previously limited to only consoles and computers—will be available for instant play via the free OnLive app on over 500 million mobile devices over Wi-Fi or mobile networks in the US and UK. You may have already experienced OnLive on your Mac or PC, and if you have, you’ll know just how groundbreaking this service will be on mobile devices. Regardless of your device’s specifications, OnLive allows you to stream games from the cloud that are traditionally only available on the latest consoles or high-performance PCs. All you need is a broadband connection that’s capable of both streaming video from the OnLive server, and sending your controls back. OnLive says that 25 console-class games have been adapted for touch-based input on smartphones and tablets, including titles like L.A.
Noire and LEGO Batman: The Videogame; but for an even greater experience, you can pickup an OnLive wireless controller for $49.99. With the controller, you can play any of the games available through OnLive on any supported mobile device. To see just how impressive OnLive will be on your iPad, check out the video below from PocketGamer: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTvOtKxadJQ Unbelievable, right? The OnLive app will be free to download from the App Store — and it should arrive imminently — but you will need to pay to play OnLive games.