Meet Nivio: a unique competitor for Onlive Desktop

 

Although OnLive is most often the first company that pops out when I think of cloud games and software, that doesn’t mean that its dominance in the cloud market is bound to last for eons.

While a few weeks back we were reporting that Nvidia’s Kepler architecture will soon be powering up alternatives to OnLive’s cloud gaming solution, today I’m here to talk about nivio, an alternative to the controversial OnLive Desktop service.
Basically, nivio allows you to access your Windows desktop, as well as apps and your personal data from any Android device, iPhone, iPad, or any other HTML 5-enabled device (yes, it also works on Chromebooks). Thus, you will be able to work on Corel Draw, Excel, or Visio projects from any device with an internet connection.

The entire Nivio experience is focused around three main pillars: nDesktop, nDrive, and nApps.
nDesktop enables you to access your Windows desktop from any HTML 5 enabled device, simple as that. The main things you should be aware of is that you cannot install your own software (you’ll have to install apps from nApps instead), nor can you run executables (fortunately, the devs promised that this feature will be available in the future). Another disadvantage of nDesktop is that it cannot render video, although that feature is touted as “on its way” as well.
nDrive is your cloud synchronized virtual drive. Nivio offers 10GB of free storage space and will synchronize only the changes you’ve made to one file or the other and not all your files over and over (thus saving bandwidth and allowing for faster sync operations). Even more, nivio’s syncing feature enables you to continue working on your project even when an internet connection is unavailable, although this specific feature is still in its beta stage and faces some limitations at the present.
nApps is what makes nivio a unique competitor in the cloud desktop market, since you don’t have to purchase apps. Instead, after the 30-month free trial expires, you will pay a monthly fee for renting apps such as Microsoft Office or Corel Draw. Other apps such as Firefox, Opera, and Chrome are free for unlimited use.
Nivio is still in beta, so you’ll need to apply and be accepted before you actually dive in. If you’re interested in learning more about nivio and its features, make sure you chek out this official video from the devs: