Today is a day of celebration for Android app addicts who own an AMD-powered computer: The chip-maker has partnered with BlueStacks to bring 500,000 Android mobile apps to the PC. A new AMD App Zone website contains both the BlueStacks virtualization software and an app store with featured free apps available for download. Both companies are also working with hardware makers to pre-install BlueStacks.
“PC shipments are set to decline 4% next year,” said BlueStacks CEO, Rosen Sharma in a statement to GigaOm. “The entire sector needs an electric jolt and AMD has just given it to them. There’s nothing better than adding half a million apps – many of them household names, to a Win8 experience that’s begging for them. This is a boon for OEMs not only in terms of user experience but also for margins.”
Sharma may be on to something as Microsoft Windows 8 is due out next month. The operating system will surely support numerous legacy applications, but the BlueStacks software can help add half a million additional apps; some of which new PC buyers may already be familiar with on their Android phone or tablet. And the BlueStacks player software is optimized for AMD’s Radeon graphics and Open GL drivers, so app performance should be good. Add improved touch support for Windows 8 and I see potential.
I first looked at BlueStacks last year because I noted a concerted push to merge mobile and desktop computing to some degree. That shift continues today as we move more traditional computing tasks into small apps on smartphones and tablets. There’s still a time and place for “old school” computing apps — and will be for years to come — but for the upcoming generation weaned on mobile apps, a solution such as BlueStacks surely has appeal.
