In an exclusive interview with VentureBeat today, it became clear that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has no intention of getting further left afield by its competition when it comes to the every growing mobile markets that drive today’s computing world.
Bluestacks, if you are unaware, offers a beta version emulator that allows for the use of Android applications on both Mac and PC while Intel Capital, in its 21st year of operation, has invested over $10 billion in more than 1,200 companies in order to extend computing technologies to reach people all over the world.
Neither Google nor Apple has done the work that Blue Stacks has with its “Layer Cake” in an effort to bridge the gap between mobile and desktop computing.
“Intel has an extremely powerful PC ecosystem, and they are looking to move into mobile in a big way,” said John Gargiulo, the vice president of marketing and business development at Bluestacks in an interview with VentureBeat. “There are more and more Intel chips on Android phones, so I think the alignment is clear.”
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is simply making sure that Bluestacks’ software will be optimized for its mobile chips, namely the x86 based mobile processor it uses in Motorola’s (Europe Only) Razr i. The large majority of Android phones in the world are running ARM-based processors.
Qualcomm, Samsung, and Nvidia have been working for years sharpening their mobile processors; Intel is a relative newcomer to the mobile processor market but is looking for their recently announced dual-core Atom processor to potentially become a game changer.
“Consumers expect to have similar experiences across all devices, and that includes having access to the same popular apps,” Dave Flanagan, a managing director at Intel Capital, said in a statement. “Bluestacks technology is a key catalyst for us in enabling mobile apps to run on any type of device.”
There were no financial details released to accompany the announcement, but it’s safe to say that Intel could no longer allow any more distance between itself and the California based start-up if it wished to become and then remain competitive in the mobile market.