BlueStacks has announced at CES that they will bring their Android App Player to Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform. Currently, Bluestacks runs on Windows 7 devices but making a commitment to bring 400,000+ Android Apps to Windows 8 will provide some competition to the native Windows app store. While their believe that building apps for Windows 8 is unnecessary that comes with a heavy bias and we all understand the apps designed for a platform feel and perform better than something running under emulation. Regardless, this means the on day one of getting your Windows 8 Tablet or ultrabook you will have access to thousands of Android apps.
Press Release
BlueStacks Announces Windows 8 Compatibility
Apps-on-PC company will bring 400,000+ Android apps to Windows 8 in 2012.
OEMs to release BlueStacks-enabled Windows 8 tablets and Ultrabooks.
CAMPBELL, CA – January 10, 2012 – BlueStacks announced today that its “App Player” software, which runs mobile apps natively on PCs and tablets, is now compatible with Windows 8. The company demonstrated the technology on a Windows 8 Ultrabook at CES today with reporters.
Windows 8 is Microsoft’s first operating system built with mobility in mind, using the new “Metro” user interface. BlueStacks will integrate over 400,000 Android apps seamlessly into the operating system, where they will take the form of tiles alongside other programs. “The Metro UI is beautiful, but the number one thing Windows 8 is missing is apps,” noted BlueStacks CEO Rosen Sharma. “This changes all that.” BlueStacks makes creating mobile apps for the Windows 8 platform unnecessary, as most every app built for Android will now run on Windows 8 without any porting. The software will support both standard desktop and Metro UI modes.
BlueStacks is actively collaborating with top PC manufacturers to pre-load the BlueStacks App Player on Ultrabooks, tablets, notebooks and all-in-one desktop PCs. Their newest in a series of OEM partnerships is one with the Taiwanese manufacturer InHon. Inhon plans to release its first Ultrabook in March 2012 with BlueStacks App Player pre-loaded, followed by a Windows 8 Ultrabook later this year. “So many of the applications that people want to use have moved to mobile platforms,” said InHon CEO HongFan Wei from Taiwan. “We’re excited to be first to market with a Windows 8 Ultrabook that combines the best apps from both worlds.”
BlueStacks was named a CES Innovations winner for 2012 at the conference this week. It is the only program worldwide that can run native mobile applications that are ARM-based or x86, windowed or fullscreen, on Windows PCs and tablets.
