OnLive

Video game streaming service OnLive is showing that it's not just about fun and games.

Later this week, a new OnLive Desktop app will hit the iTunes App Store that brings Windows 7 to your iPad. Expected to launch on Thursday, the free OnLive Desktop app gives users Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint software, along with 2 gigabytes of cloud storage for files.

That will be followed next week by a pay-tiered version called OnLive Desktop Pro ($9.99 monthly) that includes 50 GB of cloud storage, as well as priority access and the ability to add other applications such as PhotoShop and Autodesk.

With its Web-based interface, users will get an experience similar to using a high-performance PC on their iPad. "This feels like it is a local Windows desktop. It is indistinguishable. It uses the same technology that we use for delivering video games," says OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman, who is demonstrating the system at CES this week.

Perlman says that OnLive's cloud technology makes for better remote accessibility than other options. OnLive began offering cloud-based streaming video games in 2010.

"With the free version, we're going to do our best to handle the load and people will usually be able to get it, but at peak times during business hours, there may be a queue," Perlman says. "With OnLive Pro, we won't allocate more accounts than we have servers for."

That same micro-console and wireless controller system used to play video games originally released for proprietary consoles and PCs will soon be able to be used to access and display Windows productivity apps on displays and monitors.

OnLive also allows for games to be played on mobile Android devices, with upcoming support for Apple iPads, iPhones and iPod Touch devices. Android support for the Windows desktop app is in the works, too, Perlman says.

Also in development: OnLive Enterprise for businesses to give employees access to programs via portable devices.