CES 2012: OnLive headed to Google TVs, bringing Windows Desktop to iPad
Not content with revolutionising the way we think about gaming consumption, OnLive have taken this year’s CES 2012 to reveal that, not only are they bringing their game streaming platform to Google TVs, but that they’ve also perfected Windows desktop mirroring on Apple’s iPad too.
First, the Google TV announcement. OnLive will be available as an app for Google’s web-connected TV platform. After a rocky start, it’s now getting stable support at the show from the likes of LG, meaning that more and more Smart TVs will have the search giant’s internet-connected platform onboard.
For gamers, this means that you’re increasingly going to find the OnLive cloud-gaming service built into new TVs, which means that, providing your internet connection speed is up to the task and you can afford to fork out for a monthly subscription, you’ll have instant access to quality PC games direct from your TV, without the need for an expensive rig. It’ll even work with the OnLive controller.
OnLive takes games that are stored on remote supercomputers, which you control remotely from the comfort of your home, over the internet. The video of your action is then streamed back in real-time to your PC, tablet or MicroConsole (and now soon Google TV too), allowing you to enjoy the benefits of high-spec PC gaming without the need for specialist hardware.
OnLive have also announced the launch of the OnLive Desktop app for iPad. Using the same streaming principles, it gives Windows 7 users the ability to mirror their desktop on Apple’s tablet, using multitouch controls.
While a premium OnLive Desktop Pro app will offer 50 GB of cloud storage, priority access to apps, full-featured cloud-accelerated browsing and additional PC applications for $9.99/month, amazingly the regular OnLive Desktop app (with 2GB of cloud storage) will be totally free. In other words, anyone with a Windows 7 PC and iPad will be able to finally access the full suite of Office applications on the go, and access to any files or other applications they may have on their machines.
“With Thursday’s launch of the OnLive Desktop app for iPad, we are pairing the superbly-engineered iPad with as much computing power (and as much applications compatibility) as you need from a high-powered Windows server that could be 1000 miles or more away”, said Steve Perlman, OnLive CEO and founder.
“With OnLive Desktop, your iPad literally will be outperforming even most powerful notebook computers, and still be instantly responsive to your touch.”
OnLive Desktop is launching initially with iPad, but will soon be available on iPhone, Android, PC and Mac too.
While OnLive gamiing subscriber numbers are currently thought to be fairly low, these two new announcements are sure to boost those figures quite dramatically. For more info, click here.
For more news from CES 2012, click here.
