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OnLive isn't just for tablets; Sony Ericsson, HTC, Motorola and Samsung smartphones join the fun

Just don't expect too much on a small screen

OnLive isn't just for tablets; Sony Ericsson, HTC, Motorola and Samsung smartphones join the fun
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One of the good things about using Android Market on a PC is quick access to screenshots, videos and reviews. An even better feature is being able to install an app on any of the Android devices you may own.

When going to download the OnLive app for one of our tablets, it turns out that many smartphone owners can get involved too.

The description states: 'OnLive cloud gaming is a revolutionary new concept in video games that instantly delivers the latest top-tier high-performance games on demand through the Internet to your Android tablet or phone with the simplicity of streaming video.'

Following the news that OnLive works on the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, it turns out it will in fact load on every Xperia smartphone released this year, plus the somewhat ancient X10. The key is that it must be running Android 2.3. It even includes devices like the Xperia mini pro, with a 3-inch 480x320 pixel display.

That means owners of Samsung's Galaxy S or S II are also in luck, as well as the Motorola DEFY+, RAZR and Atrix. HTC devices from the Incredible S onwards can also get connected.

OnLive clearly doesn't require high-resolution tablet displays, or awesome dual-core processing power, but there are still a number of devices that miss out, including those from Alcatel, Huawei, LG, ZTE and the INQ Cloud Touch. At a guess, it would seem that a 1GHz single-core processor is considered to be a minimum requirement.

It is worth noting that some of the menus will require a careful touch as the menu text is quite small even on an Xperia arc. Can you imagine the text size on that Xperia mini pro? We'd rather not.

Jonathan Morris
Jonathan Morris
From starting out as a games tester for Mastertronic, Virgin and Sega in the late 1980s, it may seem odd to then ditch everything to write about mobile phones that, at the time, lasted 20 minutes between charges. He always had a hunch mobiles would become quite popular, but possibly didn't realise how powerful (and, ironically, returning to 20 minutes between charges). Jonathan's job is to continue advising on the best hardware to buy, in order to enjoy games that have advanced considerably since those long days and nights testing Double Dragon on the C64.