BlueStacks' App Player tool brings Android apps to Windows

Mobile compatibility specialist BlueStacks has released the first version of its App Player software.

The company said the App Player tool would allow users to run Android mobile applications on their Windows PCs.

John Gargiulo, vice president of marketing for BlueStacks, told V3 the application would offer higher performance than traditional emulator platforms.

"We don't like to use the 'e-word' because we feel it blends us in with other developers out there," Gargiulo said.

"There are other people doing emulation, but we are able to run graphics-intensive apps without any strain or lag."

The App Player release will be the first from BlueStacks. The company is also offering a mobile application that will allow users to manage and synchronize applications with their Windows PCs. Currently the platform supports Android Gingerbread and Windows 7.

Gargiulo said that the company was targeting App Player at both consumer and enterprise users, including gamers, home office users and large businesses looking to deploy in-house applications across a range of devices.

"They don't want to go out and buy 50,000 Samsung tablets," Gargiulo explained.

"If they can build an Android application they can have their hundreds or thousands of employees use this on their PCs, which is something that helps them a lot."

BlueStacks is currently offering the App Player software as a free alpha release. The company is also planning to offer a paid-for "Pro" version in the future.