BlueStacks made quite a splash when they released their alpha x86 Android app player for Windows late last year. When AMD invested millions of dollars into the company, it was clear that they were planning on leveraging the ever-expanding Android platform to put a shot into the arm of their PC chip business. Nearly a year after the initial investment, they're ready to make good: head on over to www.amd.com/appzone to check out the shiny new AMD App Zone. Download your first app from a Windows-based PC to install the new version of the BlueStacks player (along with the app), no sign-in required.

All the features of the earlier BlueStacks versions are here, including the syncing function, which allows users to easily install all the apps that are already on your phone or tablet via the Cloud Connect app. AMD also says that the player has been optimized for its own hardware (though it works just fine on Intel machines as well). It certainly seems faster on my PC than it did a year ago, which was the only real problem I had with the service at the time.

Interestingly, the new version seems to be hooking directly into the Google Play Store. Most apps will download directly from Google's servers, and notification updates will take you straight to the familiar Play Store interface, complete with your Google account. The Amazon Appstore, GetJar and 1Mobile are also included, and BlueStacks' custom search app will look through all four of them if you use the built-in search function. Just to test the limits of the new version, I installed ye olde Launcher Pro, and whaddya know: there was the Google Play Store, plain as day, just like you'd see on a Gingerbread phone.

Basically, BlueStacks boils down to a very solid Android x86 emulator running 2.3 on your Windows PC. There's a thin layer on the top, with the navigation buttons adorning a ribbon on the bottom. From left to right, you've got Android's Back button, Menu button, "BlueStacks" button (which will work as a standard Home button if you install a new launcher), a combined screenshot+share button, and a link to some basic settings. A dynamically populated "Suggested Apps" ribbon goes all along the left side, and is unfortunately not removable.

Performance is a bit of a mixed bag. In standard apps it works well, though thanks to the Gingerbread codebase (the player seems to think it's a Samsung GT-i9100) there's no way to make tablet apps display properly. 2D sprite-based games play just fine, as do more basic 3D apps, but a few that I tried (like the newer Eternity Warriors 2) just wouldn't launch. All the featured apps on AMD's site should be OK. YouTube worked alright, so long as I disabled HD playback. Netflix was more of a slideshow than a player. Of course I was just poking around - there's no reason to use a lot of these apps on the PC - but I'm definitely thinking about using BlueStacks as a dedicated Gmail or Twitter (Plume) viewer. The nature of the player is a deal-breaker if an app needs tilt controls or camera access.

Not everything is smooth and polished, but as a free download, the updated BlueStacks is very impressive. With AMD making a push towards the lower end of PCs, and an arguably touch-friendly Windows 8 on the horizon, BlueStacks may find a lot of brand new users before the year is out. AMD is currently working with its hardware partners, and will probably be bundling the AppZone Player with new laptops and desktops soon.

AMD AppZone