OnLive has launched an Android and Apple app, bringing cloud gaming to the tablet and smartphone market.

Expected to launch in the UK this year, the cloud service streams high-end, triple A games to computers or devices that wouldn’t otherwise have the specs to run them. It manages this by having the actual computing done on remote servers, and then piping the visuals through to the users via broadband.

The new apps, launched at E3 this week, aim to do the same thing for tablets and smartphones – both huge growth areas. And the firm is remarkably self assured with regards to any competition with the console market.

“The power of the cloud is definitely the theme this week, displacing what had been assumed to be platforms that could never be displaced,” said Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO of OnLive. “The OnLive Player App for iPad and Android shows how with the power of the cloud, the question is not whether cloud gaming will be able to catch up to consoles, it will be whether consoles will be able to catch up to cloud gaming.”

The OnLive Player App works with the majority of games already on the service. Once installed the tablets and phones can be used as self contained gaming devices, or in conjunction with he firm’s new Universal Wireless Controller.

The software allows the tablet to be used as a touch and motion controller with a connected TV, PC or Mac. It also apparently allows ‘massive spectating’ of live gameplay throughout the world, instant no-obsolescence gameplay, Facebook integration with Brag Clip videos.