AMD Partners With BlueStacks To Bring Android Apps To PCs

eldavojohn writes "News outlets are reporting that AMD has partnered with BlueStacks to bring Android apps to AppZone Player, something that will apparently allow the more than 500,000 mobile apps to run on your PC. From their announcement: 'What's special about the player on AMD-based products? 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. To solve this, BlueStacks has designed and optimized the player for AMD Radeon graphics and in particular, our OpenGL drivers found in our APUs and GPUs 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.' Unfortunately this appears to only work on AMD-based PCs (although nowhere does it say that it won't work on Intel CPUs or non-Radeon GPUs). Also no word on how they overcame the difference between a mouse and touchscreen (think pinch to zoom)."

Comments

Blah.blah..marketing..marteting..blah

[pushing-robot]

Thank you, Press-release-dot.

Now explain why I would even *want* to use phone apps on my desktop?

Re:Blah.blah..marketing..marteting..blah

[admdrew]

explain why I would even *want* to

Why not? It's new and interesting tech news, and this is /.

Re:Blah.blah..marketing..marteting..blah

[shiftless]

So in other words, there's no reason to use Android apps.

Yes, Tapatalk is nice....but if you're having to use a phone app on the PC to accomplish something, you're doing it wrong.

Re:Blah.blah..marketing..marteting..blah

[Jeng]

There are oddly enough some apps that don't have a good equivalent on the PC side.

A good example is Torque Pro, an amazingly awesome OBDII app for $4.99 . Does things stand alone OBDII readers could never do, even ones costing thousands of dollars can't do the things this little program can. And it is easy to use.

Re:Blah.blah..marketing..marteting..blah

[pushing-robot]

Having run my own apps in the iPhone/iPad simulator, I can say it's nowhere near as good as the real thing. And apps on 'the real thing' are usually nowhere near as good as they would be on my desktop, except for portability and touchscreen-specific features. I have no desire for a solution that combines all the downsides of both PCs and portable devices.

Admittedly, there is the rare phone app that, for no obvious reason, has no match on the PC, but even rarer is an app that would be worth the inconvenience and inevitable compatibility issues that would come from using a shim-ulator like this. And for those, why not just... use your phone?

Unfortunately, if this takes off (and I can't really imagine it will), it would only encourage lazy developers to build compromised designs that work passably on phones and PCs without taking advantage of the unique strengths of either. It would be another decade of the same write-once-suck-everywhere that Java and Flash brought us.

And for all of you, who I'm certain aren't interested in the slightest, here's my dramatic reading of the announcement:

[The new hotness will] allow the more than 500,000 mobile apps to run on your PC

*based on our estimate that soon all PCs will be Windows 8 multi-touch tablets—Steve Ballmer said so!—and all Android developers partner with us.

'What's special about the player on AMD-based products?

We call it: "Vendor lock-in!"

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

Likewise, there are many challenges with using the Mario Kart wheel to control a 747.

To solve this, BlueStacks has designed and optimized the player for AMD Radeon graphics and in particular, our OpenGL drivers found in our APUs and GPUs so you get a great 'big-screen' experience.

To solve this, we use only pink Mario Kart wheels, and in particular, pink wheels covered in our proprietary glitter for the best possible experience.

Additionally, the apps are integrated into AppZone, our online showcase and one-stop-shop for apps accelerated by AMD technology.'

You'll be able to use ANY Android app...that's tweaked for our service and available in our store. There'll be dozens!

BlueStacks has achieved some incredible momentum

We think it will revolutionize the whole software market, just as CrossOver made Windows a thing of the past!

Bring it to Linux

[phorm]

And then I'll be happy. Especially if it allows me to use Netflix, etc. (one of the few reasons I might boot to windows on my PC still)

Windows 8 Tablets

[Arterion]

You guys are missing the point! This is all about Windows 8 tablets, which are going to be on the market very soon. The Windows app store is going to be sparse, and honestly, the biggest drawback to getting a Windows tablet. With Bluestacks, you get all the Metro apps AND all your android apps. This is a HUGE deal.

Think about when Intel comes out with the next generation of ultra low power x86 processors: Windows 8 tablets running on x86. You get everything you could want: Real desktop apps, Metro Apps, and all the Android smartphone/tablet apps. Throw it in a case with a bluetooth keyboard + trackpack (or mouse), and why would anyone need or want a laptop? I think it could probably replace the desktop for many users.

I'm telling you, this is HUGE. It will allows Windows 8 tablets to overcome their barrier to entering the market: a mature app store.