OnLive Desktop: iPad Does Windows. [OnLive]

We love our iPads. There’s no question. But when you’re on the go with work and a file needs editing—or creating—it’s hard to feel free to leave your computer behind. At least, that’s how it has been.
But starting this Thursday, life is going to change.
OnLive has just re-imagined what’s possible on iPad with the OnLive Desktop app, available Thursday in the iTunes App Store. Launching a brand-new chapter for OnLive (and everyone), OnLive Desktop gives users instant access to a seamless Windows desktop experience, with full-featured Microsoft Office applications and 2 GB of free cloud storage for secure file access anywhere. Need to edit a Word doc with redlines and comments? No problem. Need to give some oomph to that PowerPoint deck for your meeting? Go for it: present animations and slide transitions, edit diagrams and embed videos. Desperate for a pivot table in Excel? Pivot away … Anything you can do on your office desktop, you will be able to do on your iPad—at home, in your hotel, anywhere.
Of course, Windows 7 multi-touch navigation has a different feel than mouse navigation. But it’s actually pretty slick. Because OnLive Desktop is built on the same proven technology as our instant-action game service, Windows responds instantly and fluidly to your touch. Using touch gestures like Aero snap, swipe to scroll, drag, drop, pinch and zoom, you can quickly and easily control both desktop folders and Office applications. Even HD videos and animations play instantly and smoothly (after all, if we can meet the performance discipline demanded by high-end games, why not linear media?). With OnLive Desktop, remote feels local.
Another cool thing? Whatever you create or save on your iPad is accessible (by you) anywhere, so if you do update that impressively media-rich PowerPoint deck on your iPad at home, and need it on your computer at work, it’s simple. You can see all of the files in your OnLive Desktop’s Documents folder when you sign in to desktop.onlive.com and download what you need through your work computer’s web browser. (Or better yet, present it directly from your iPad, onscreen or via an external monitor, since all of the screen transitions, animations and videos in PowerPoint will run cleanly.)
OnLive Desktop is starting with iPad, but it will soon be available on iPhone, Android™, PC and Mac®. Also, you’ll be able to use monitors and TVs via OnLive MicroConsole with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. All of these devices will share your same OnLive Desktop, with instant access to your same files and applications. So, as you move from place to place, and device to device, you’ll always have access to your personal OnLive Desktop and files. Essentially, you’ll be taking your computer with you without having to carry it.
Also coming soon:

• OnLive Desktop Pro will offer individual subscribers up to 50 GB of cloud storage, priority access to apps, full-featured cloud-accelerated browsing and additional PC applications for $9.99/month.
• OnLive Enterprise, a variation on OnLive Desktop allowing complete customization for businesses and organizations, including multiple levels of access as well as the integration of custom independent software applications, including inventory and reservation systems.
• OnLive collaborative services, for both Pro and Enterprise, which will enable thousands of users to simultaneously view, control and discuss a shared media-rich desktop via voice chat. Essentially, this is the Cloud Desktop version of the OnLive Game Service Arena.

OnLive Desktop marks the start of new chapter in Cloud Computing: The era of Instant-Action Cloud Computing, where the response time from the cloud is so fast, you can’t tell you’re connected to the cloud at all. We gave the world a first peek at the possibilities with the OnLive Game Service within sphere of videogames—bringing the immense power of the cloud instantly to your fingertips, regardless of the performance of your local device. But with OnLive Desktop, we’re opening the floodgates to eventually allow any application to leverage the immense power of the cloud, changing the way you think about the potential of mobile devices forever.
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. With OnLive Desktop, your iPad literally will be outperforming even most powerful notebook computers, and still be instantly responsive to your touch.
We very much hope you enjoy using OnLive Desktop. Welcome to the future of computing.
—Steve Perlman, CEO and Founder


[Source: Steve Perlman - OnLive Desktop: iPad Does Windows.]