Much to many people’s surprise they were on hand at CES to show of their latest service, Onlive Desktop, for iPad, which will put the power of your desktop in the cloud.

The service allows iPad users (for the time being) to use Microsoft Office suite on their tablets with full touch screen capabilities all through the cloud without having to worry about whether your iPad can handle it or is compatible.

The way it works is simple: harness the power of Onlive’s goliath server farm to do all the heavy lifting at their end whilst you get the benefits of the full version of office on a tablet.

It might seem like a strange thing for Onlive to be doing, but, in theory it’s likely to be a smoother experience for the end-user because you won’t be playing triple-A games and merely doing spreadsheet work or presentations, where a tiny bit of lag wouldn’t ruin the experience.

In fact: it’s the next logical step. The servers and technology are already there and the tasks it will have to perform will be more than manageable.

Better still they’re are planning a premium version, if you signup to the top package with 50GB of server space, you can also surf the web and use their amazing bandwidth speeds and, better still, it also allows for full flash support on an iPad. Amazing.

In Onlive’s short history they’ve never had any downtime, so it’s more than plausible that businesses could actually rely on the service.

The Onlive desktop app works by downloading the app, signing up and boom – you’re away.

When the service is released on iOS this week, Onlive Desktop will be free. With this you get 2GB of storage and access to Microsoft Office. If you aren’t an iPad user, then an Android version of the service is coming soon.

Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.

HMV has been announced as a partner of FilmFlex, a new video-on-demand rental service setup between Sony Picture and Walt Disney; one the biggest on-demand film services in Europe. FilmFlex will handle the site, distribution and rights, with HMV handling billing and promotion.

Movies are to be made available on the same date as their DVD release as part of a new HMV-branded movies-on-demand service.

HMV On-Demand will offer a wide range of films from over 30 distributors, including all the major ones from Hollywood. HMV are planning a soft launch today targeting their reward scheme members and will begin to ramp-up promotion of the service during the new year.

HMV is the latest in long line of companies that are adjusting to film and music industries which are evolving from physical to digital media. However, it’s going to be facing tough competition from the likes of LoveFilm, Tesco Blinkbox, Google’s YouTube and Netflix; who recently announced it would be launching in the UK and Ireland early next year.

It’s been a really tough couple of years for the music retailer as it has closed 30 stores in the last few months, due to a 15% fall in like for like sales.

HMV said that the new service will be accessible by PCs at first, but it does have plans to expand to other digital devices, and will be planning a host of models including download-to-own and cloud-based streaming.

“With a growing number of consumers now incorporating video-on-demand into their viewing and purchasing habits, the time is right to include a digital service into our own offer,” said Mark Hodgkinson, marketing and e-commerce director at HMV.

Jeff Henry, the former ITV and Hallmark Channel senior executive, was appointed as chief executive of FilmFlex’s European operation in July.

“Our deal with HMV illustrates perfectly the benefit of combining their well-known brand and high traffic volumes with our own expertise in technology and content,” said Henry.

Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.

If you’re into your extreme sports, then the chances are you’ll have heard of UK Company GoPro.

If you haven’t, they make awesome cameras that are perfect for using in dangerous situations. Their range of helmet cameras can be used to capture High Definition video from a rider or person’s perspective, usually when doing something ridiculous such as skydiving or mountain biking down an actual mountain.

GoPro have just announced the latest HD action camera to join their range and it is an upgrade from the HD Hero camera they launched in 2009 – meet the GoPro HD Hero2.

The HD Hero2 is a tough cookie, and also boasts serious improvements over its predecessor. GoPro say that the Hero2 is twice as powerful as the original, capturing 16:9 widescreen footage in Full HD 1080p quality from wherever you choose to attach it. This baby can be strapped to your helmet (you’d better be wearing one!), the dashboard of a motorsports car, a surfboard, wakeboard or windsurfing board, plus many more things, depending on which kit you choose.

The lens of the HD Hero2 is adjustable, allowing you to capture video in narrow (90-degree), medium (127-degree) or wide (170-degree) angles.

Still photographs can also be captured in 11-Megapixel quality, for those before and after shots of the rider.

A full list of improvements and specifications for the HD Hero2 can be found below.

• Professional 11MP Sensor
• 2x Faster Image Processor
• 2X Sharper Glass Lens
• Professional Low Light Performance
• Full 170º, Medium 127º, Narrow 90º FOV in 1080p and 720p Video
• 120 fps WVGA, 60 fps 720p, 48 fps 960p, 30 fps 1080p Video
• Full 170º and Medium 127º FOV Photos
• 10 11MP Photos Per Second Burst
• 1 11MP Photo Every 0.5 Sec Timelapse Mode
• 3.5mm External Stereo Microphone Input
• Simple Language-based User Interface
• Compatible with Wi-Fi BacPac™ and Wi-Fi Remote™
• Long Range Remote Control of up to 50 GoPro Cameras per Wifi Remote
• Wi-Fi Video/Photo Preview, Playback and Control via GoPro App
• Live Streaming Video and Photos to the Web

Video can be stored onto an SD Card, transferred to PC or laptop using the USB connection, or played back on a HDTV using the HDMI connection.

You can order the GoPro HD Hero2 now in three different configurations; Outdoor Edition, Surf Edition and Motorsports Edition. Each contains a different selection of clips, attachments and accessories to optimise the camera for a different extreme environment. Additional accessories and attachments can be purchased separately too.

Each kit costs $299, and hopefully Amazon will be selling the camera slightly later on in the year for us Brits. If you want to see the sort of conditions that people use GoPro cameras in, and the sort of quality you can expect from the recordings, check the video below.

Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.

The folk over at Canon Rumours are saying that they are 99% sure that we are going to see a brand new DSLR from Canon on Tuesday, and that it’s most likely going to be a new 1D series camera – something that has been running around the rumour mill for the last few months.

The rumoured specification of the camera includes a 16-18MP sensor, Full Frame, ISO up to 51,200, it will also apparently have a Dual Digic V processor, be able to shoot 12 to 14 frames per second and will include a 61 point AF.

Again, we have to stress that at the moment the above specs are only rumours, although we’re hoping that it will turn out to be quite accurate. I suppose we’ll have to wait until tomorrow (fingers crossed) to find out.

As ever we’re interesting in your thoughts on this, so dont forget to leave us your comments  below or tweet us  @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or visit our Official Facebook group.

With Apple’s latest iPhone just hitting shelves, everyone’s thoughts move on to what Apple will do to improve the iPad 2.

Reports are already suggesting that Cupertino Company Apple have started the manufacturing process for what will be the iPad 3. These reports would suggest that Apple have already completed the design process for the next iPad and know what specifications and parts they want it to have etc.

With manufacturing of the device starting now, we could be looking at being able to buy the next iPad tablet in March of 2012. This makes sense, as it would mark one year since the iPad 2 became available.

The original iPad went on sale in April of 2010, and was followed by the immensely popular iPad 2, which was announced early March 2011 and sold later on that month in 25 countries worldwide.

Apple likes to refresh its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch lines on an annual basis and usually at the same time each year.

Jeff Fidacaro, a technology analyst for Susquehanna Financial, has spoken to AllThingsD about the iPad 3. Companies who supply parts for Apple devices are said to have upped their orders, suggesting that a new product is in the works as we speak.

“Since our last supply chain checks we are now seeing 600,000 to one million iPad 3 builds showing up on the plan for the fourth quarter of calendar 2011,”says Fidacaro.

Many are already suggesting that this initial batch that is currently in production is a test run. The products manufactured will be given to Apple employees for testing purposes, so let’s hope they don’t leave one in a bar..

What would you like to see from the iPad 3? Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.