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WindowsAndroid Lets You Run Android 4.0 Natively On Your PC
An anonymous reader writes "WindowsAndroid is a very cool tool from the Beijing-based startup SocketeQ that lets you run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) as a native application on Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 machines. The creators tell us they have a deep background in virtualization, operating system, and graphics technologies, and have been working on the project for years. Essentially, WindowsAndroid allows you not only to execute Android apps on your Windows computer, but also use the browser, not to mention every other component of the operating system."
Will make debugging of mobile HTML5 apps easier
I always that it would be cool to be able to mess with Android on a desktop. It would be fun to try this VM out.
...do not trust.
how many of you would think it twice before willingly installing software from a chinese software company -- given all the news we hear recently about chinese companies being denied access to important western markets due to security reasons and all.
China? Only if it's completely open source and multiple peers have audited the code for security.
Chrome on Android on Windows is really fast, huh?
Seems like a good thing for android developers. The current simulator is a bit slow.
Is anyone else a little hesitant to run Chinese software? I don't want to be xenophobic, but I'm a bit leery of either Russian or Chinese software.
OK, for testing apps, this would be nice, since the Android SDK's emulator sucks for most anything people do in apps these days. The emulator doesn't handle OpenGL ES, and probably a lot of other details I haven't bothered with.
...software virtualize you.
AndroVM is better, runs on GNU/Linux and already supports hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering of Android games when the game installer is not huge (less than 100 MB in size).
This is a relatively trivial concept, so it should be almost trivial to implement.
However, the simple fact is that I do not trust these guys to get the security right.
Let me know when Google buys these guys (I'm sure that's their real business plan anyway), and then I might consider using the product.
- Graphics acceleration isn't done yet, so presumably will be very slow.
- Anything in an app that's compiled for ARM (e.g. if an app has CPU intensive stuff done in C++) shouldn't work if I understand their approach correctly -- i.e. it's not existing within a virtual machine but rather is a port / recompile of the Android OS to run natively on Windows.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong...
How does this compare to Bluestacks (bluestacks.com)?
Wait, why should I?
Bluestacks anyone?
Looks similar to what BlueStacks does. http://www.bluestacks.com/
And, for those posting about being wary of software from a Chinese company, BlueStacks is located in California.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
They should have called it Windroid
I have an app that runs windows on my phone. I wonder if I can run Socket in there? Wouldn't that be the bomb?
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
Such emulators have been around for long where one can use apps of one platform on another (Wine anyone). Whats the news here...? I can understand why someone would want to play an Android game or use some such app that is not available for the PC using this. But why would one want to run a browser inside Android when a perfectly good browser could be used directly from Windows. The novelty of it would wear away soon I guess.
BTW, Bluestacks runs Android apps on both Windows and Mac machines. WindowsAndroid can claim to be better than Bluestacks when they get their platform running on Mac *and* Linux too! Or perhaps when it can run Android on a Windows phone at native speeds (well, that would be an awesome one if it could be done).
No it isn't. If you read the article, you'll realize why. In fact, the article actually meantions Bluestacks.
Beijing-based! Cool! I bet there isn't any spyware in there.
The lengths people will go to in order to finally get a working alternative to the SDK's goddamn piece of shit of an emulator.
Any suggestions on a better forum to read?
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
HackerNews.
The SDK can already hardware virtualize an x86 image already (via Intel HAXM on windows and Mac and KVM on Linux), and there is a 4.0.4 x86 image in the repositories.
(ducks)
Wait 9 months for Surface Pro tablets to flop then pick one up cheap and run Ice Cream Sandwich on it.
To get an early release of WindowsAndroid, you first have to fill out the download form (make sure to provide a valid email address) and grab the hefty 64.8MB installer via the download link you receive in your inbox.
To get an early release, but there will never be anything other than "early" release, you first have to fill out the download form with all your personal details and a valid email address, so your data can be harvested and sold to massive spam churning jerks for fractions of a penny. Then get a link back to the web server for an installer that will undoubtedly require admin rights to install a whole lot of unknown software with no source code to review or compile yourself.
...and thoroughly documented.
er . . . about the same worry as any software from anywhere. Do your self protection rituals and don't install it on anything that contains critical information. Look for oddities (unexpected network connections etc) and check for an online community that may show some pedigree for the software.
Trojan software is a real worry but the fact that it comes from China does not seem to me to alter the worry level. ie: be worried and be careful
A very cursory check of sites that track threats shows China as a source is about on a par with the US. Somewhat worse but still, a lot of malware comes from the good ol US of A. Most sites seem to agree that the USSR er Soviets er Commies er RUSSIA is a major source of crap, standing out from the others.
eh, stats is stats.
The reason Chinese companies (ummm: Huawei) have been labelled a security worry is that the People's Lib Army of the PROC is assumed to be the defacto owner. Worry being that their routers/switches/cell equipment come with back doors pre-installed.
Who knows if this is true or not, but I have often wondered if companies like Cisco, Juniper, Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens etc are working closely with their own governments to provide "special" firmware loads for foreign installations. Maybe domestic as well. But I may be paranoid. ;->
Governments have been caught in the past doing industrial espionage for their own domestic interests. The French apparently bugged first class airline seats for competitive business reasons and the Chinese reported that a Boeing 767 was delivered complete with surveillance bugs.
So: although China doesn't worry more than say the US, it doesn't worry me any less either.
From China myself, and I wouldn't poke that thing with a bamboo stick.
I don't like the way the threads are laid out, no titles of different threads.
I hate slashdots default view also, I still use classic view.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
BlueStacks is located in California.
They *do* order take out occasionally, though.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
... I can play Fruit Ninja on a 22" screen!
I would like to try this on my Android phone. Does anyone know of a good Windows emulator I can use to run this software?
How is proprietary software that only runs on proprietary operating systems, is "in early development status" and does something that existing open source software does much better news for nerds or stuff that matters? Did I overlook the advertorial tag?
0x or or snor perron?!
Seems like a good thing for android developers. The current simulator is a bit slow.
Honestly devices are better. Getting a $300 Nexus 4 phone or a $200 Nexus 7 tablet for development purposes is the way to go. The simulator is fine for limited use, primarily for different screens to test your user interface, but for day to day work I prefer actual devices. YMMV.
Am I missing something? How is emulating another OS on top of the first OS, running it natively? Isn't Windows the native OS on a Windows box?
Is this why flash adobe air or Silverlight OOB is supposed to be good for? The same app running on different platforms? Oh wait then you don't have to go through the app store which is a lot of fun.
$25 ARM on a stick Plug that into my monitor's HDMI and using bluetooth and there's my "ICS" experience.
Shai Schticks:"You don't make peace with friends, you make peace with enemies"
I always wondered if it could be possible to run android natively on a gnu/linux distribution. The android kernel and linux kernel are so similar. I understand most of the userspace is different, but running in a different cgroups and in a different chroot should provide some help with it. Anybody had some success with that?
So, let's install on our Windows machines an obscure application that emulates an obsolete version of Android and is developed by an obscure Chinese company, just for fun!
This is nothing new. Use bluestacks vrs the Chinese clone They have been around since Oct 2011.
http://www.bluestacks.com/
Joe
What part of "Beijing-based startup" makes you think you should be pumping your account info into this, or running it at all for that matter.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
...a broken OS on a broken OS!
Is that code from they *do* outsource to China sometimes? If not, it ought to be!
My present is the activity I am currently engaged in with the purpose of turning the future into a better past.
After filling out form.
Done,
install this:
virtualbox.org
boot an image from here:
android-x86.org
So much for chinese engineering...
I heard you like shitty operating systems that rip off Apple's ideas, so we . . .
Beware of getting anything involved with Chinese companies. I have seen several business friends dealing with Chinese businessmen - turns out their companies were all owned by the People's Liberation Army. At the end, they all suffered losses and getting their technologies stolen and copied. They also found bugging devices and spyware installed by the Chinese businessmen.
I'm sure your not Chinese. :-P
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us
Agreed. Nothing is really secure unless it's open source.
did anyone else not receive an email with a link?
but apple will probably just scrap osx for IOS, fucking all the pro OSX users along the way
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
you mean like the iPad simulator that comes with the free XCode IDE for years..
life must be gettin pretty good now.. ;-)
But the spyware is in the firmware - below the BIOS. At that level, you could intercept the keyboard input, cache it in some flash memory and send it back through the network port along with screenshots.
How does this software compare to BlueStacks? I can already run android apps on my PC with that application.
So this turns my PC into an android spy phone, were a note taking app needs access to my contact list, calendar, bank account, and network. No thanks.
Besides, you got it wrong... it's: "All Your Base ARE Belong To Us" :)
...of a Trojan horse...don't know why...
Not to mention the Republican shills.