AMD, BlueStacks Team Up for Android Apps on x86

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

The BlueStacks App Player for Windows is getting support for AMD's APU platforms.

Thursday AMD said that it has teamed up with BlueStacks to help bring Android applications to Windows-based devices. The chip maker will lend a hand in optimizing the BlueStacks App Player for Windows so that the more than 200,000 apps currently available in the Android Market will perform at their peak when running on APUs powered with AMD VISION technology.

"BlueStacks is a visionary software company that is, seamlessly, making the emerging Android mobile apps market part of the broader computing ecosystem and enhancing such experiences on our award-winning APU platforms," said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. "AMD is committed to support such game changing innovators through investment and other activity as we work together to usher in new experiences that allow consumers to enjoy the full capabilities of the brilliant graphics and computing performance enabled by AMD."

As reported last week, BlueStacks launched an alpha version of its App Player that allows Windows 7-based PCs and tablets to run Android apps within the Windows environment without having to install the Android SDK or modify the original software. The App Player also allows PCs and tablets to install apps synced from an Android device thanks to the company's Android-based Cloud Connect technology.

The current alpha version of BlueStacks' App Player comes packed with free Android apps including Words Free, Aporkalypse, Talking Tom 2 Free, Bubble Buster and seven others. Users can also download an additional 31 free apps from the BlueStacks website, but given that the software is still in alpha, users will discover some problems running the apps. For example, Talking Tom doesn't actually talk, but spurts out a garbled electronic mess instead.

Support for premium apps like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja is still in the works, BlueStacks said.

Kevin Parrish
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    For hell's sake... why would anyone need those "apps" on a full desktop OS?! That's exactly what I hate about Windows 8 - for some reason, everyone tends to think you need a ton of crApps to get any work done, while in fact all you need is an Internet browser.
    Reply
  • ravewulf
    amk-aka-phantomFor hell's sake... why would anyone need those "apps" on a full desktop OS?! That's exactly what I hate about Windows 8 - for some reason, everyone tends to think you need a ton of crApps to get any work done, while in fact all you need is an Internet browser.Using HTML based apps also largely solves platform compatibility. The only compatibility issue is what the various browsers support. No need for recompiling or emulating.
    Reply
  • falchard
    9319285 said:
    For hell's sake... why would anyone need those "apps" on a full desktop OS?! That's exactly what I hate about Windows 8 - for some reason, everyone tends to think you need a ton of crApps to get any work done, while in fact all you need is an Internet browser.

    Because they might be using an Intel IGP. Not sure why AMD would want to bring this forward considering all their IGPs are capable of much more.
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    falchardBecause they might be using an Intel IGP. Not sure why AMD would want to bring this forward considering all their IGPs are capable of much more.
    WHAAAAAAAAT?! What the hell do IGPs have to do with this? The problem HERE is developers pushing tablet mentality on the desktop: instead of big, near-omnipotent programs or browser-based interaction, we get a TON of useless "apps" which all do one or two things only.
    Reply
  • metallifux
    AMD need to put all there resources into making some decent new CPU's before they can afford to waste them on sh$t like this...
    Reply
  • acadia11
    AMD putting out something else no one gives a isht about. Well done AMD.
    Reply
  • silverblue
    I think AMD are looking towards this being a selling point for higher performance tablets like the MSI WindPad series than, say, Llano systems. Still, Google can't complain - it extends their coverage.

    I had a thought about a similar program for the iOS App Store, but then realised that we're more likely to see U2 go bankrupt.
    Reply
  • southernshark
    It makes sense as we will likely see Llano tablets next year. Also Apps are a growing market and eventually some people will want to use Apps even on notebooks/ laptops. Actually people would buy them right now.
    Reply
  • molo9000
    amk-aka-phantomFor hell's sake... why would anyone need those "apps" on a full desktop OS?! That's exactly what I hate about Windows 8 - for some reason, everyone tends to think you need a ton of crApps to get any work done, while in fact all you need is an Internet browser.
    Maybe it's for x86 tablets?
    A x86 tablet is a useless thing for the most part, because there are no touchscreen-designed apps for it.
    Being able to use Android apps would turn a x86 tablet into a proper tablet while still being able to run all the productivity software written for x86 Windows.

    Doesn't solve the price/battery life problem of x86 tablets though.
    Reply
  • silverblue
    http://www.techspot.com/review/441-msi-windpad-110w-windows-8/page6.html

    True, 4 hours idle isn't great, though it's not exactly a weak tablet.
    Reply