By Alexandra Burlacu | Sep 30, 2012 11:06 AM EDT
AMD has teamed up with BlueStacks to integrate the startup's App Player technology into the newly launched AMD AppZone, a marketplace that will make more than 500,000 Android apps available to desktop and laptop users.
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BlueStacks has already attracted millions of users after offering a beta version of its App Player in March and later extending the service to Macs in July. Users will still be able to use App Player on Intel-based Windows machines or OS X systems, but AMD claims it will offer the fastest user experience now that BlueStacks technology serves as the engine for AppZone.
Using BlueStacks' LayerCake technology to run the AMD AppZone Player will enable AMD to provide users with a better and faster experience on AMD-based Windows PCs, said Gabe Gravning, AMD's head of the app ecosystem marketing.
"There are many challenges with running apps that were originally designed for phones or tablets on a PC that in most cases has a larger screen and higher-resolution display," Gravning wrote in a Sept. 27 blog post.
"To solve this, BlueStacks has designed and optimized the player for AMD Radeon graphics and in particular, our OpenGL drivers found in our APUs [accelerated processing units] and GPUs [graphics processing units] so you get a great 'big-screen' experience. Additionally, the apps are integrated into AppZone, our online showcase and one-stop-shop for apps accelerated by AMD technology."
BlueStacks technology also includes a feature called Cloud Connect, a server that allows users to sync their apps and SMS communications with Android-based devices. AMD will push the new features to Windows 7 users and embed it in Windows 8 systems. Users will be able to get the app player either by downloading it directly or by downloading one of the apps, which will automatically download the player onto the PC, explained Gravning.
The main advantage of the BlueStacks App Player software is that it provides Windows PC users with access to hundreds of thousands of Android apps. Windows 8, due to arrive on Oct. 26, is optimized for tablets, and Microsoft has been urging programmers to develop applications for it. Microsoft released the final version of Windows 8 to developers back in August so they can create apps before the operating makes its debut.
Some reports, however, revealed that only slightly more than 2,000 apps made their way into the Windows Store apps store, and the launch is merely one month away. Meanwhile, BlueStacks' technology could take away incentives for developers to create applications specifically for Windows. With BlueStacks' App Player solution, developers could just as well create Android apps that would find their way onto Windows PCs as well.
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