Sometimes technology just blows your mind. When I reviewed the OnLive Game System as a founder memeber, I was impressed by the simple fact that this “cloud gaming” kit worked at all – let alone that it worked so well.
OnLive just announced at CES that their cloud service will now support “OnLive Desktop” which offers iPad users access to fully-functional versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint through cloud computing. The user must download a small application, and after signing up for an OnLive account are able to access a full Windows 7 interface on their iPad.
While not available at launch, OnLive will also be offering a Cloud Desktop Pro plan for $9.99 a month, This plan offers a dedicated spot on their servers, a cloud-accelerated web browser and 50GB of storage, and let you install apps of your own.
OnLive’s also planning enterprise tier of service that outfits Micro Consoles and offers IT control over permissions for a business. There’s also a “collaborative services” package which adds voice chat, screen sharing (based on the game service’s Arena game spectating) and even cooperative control over a single session by multiple simultaneous users.
The service will be coming soon to Android tablets as well as PC and Mac.
A number of paid options and subscriptions are in development:
OnLive Desktop Pro, starting at $9.99 per month.
- Priority access to your OnLive Desktop, preloaded with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- 50 GB of secure cloud storage, appearing as your Documents folder on your OnLive Desktop.
- Cloud-accelerated Web browsing.
- Ability to add other PC applications.
OnLive Enterprise, priced on request.
- IT-managed OnLive Desktops for businesses and organizations.
- Full control of entitlements on a per-user basis.
- Supports iPad, Android, PC, Mac, monitors/TVs with MicroConsole thin client.
- Available for custom integration by independent software vendors, consultants.
