Could the fix for the underdeveloped Windows 8 app ecosystem be … Android?

That’s what BlueStacks says. The emulation company has released a version of its Android app-optimizing player for the Surface Pro, giving those using the PC-tablet hybrid access to thousands of Android apps.

BlueStacks CEO Rosen Sharma says that apps will be key to the success of Windows 8, and in turn, the Surface Pro. “For [devices like] the Surface to sell, [they] need not just a few apps but a lot,” he said. 

The Surface-optimized app is the latest in a series of big developments for BlueStacks, which launched in 2009 and has $14 million in venture capital.

In December, BlueStacks released a version of its app player for OSX so that Android software could run on Macs (even if those Apple fans didn’t especially want to).

Far more significant, however, is BlueStacks’s January deal with Lenovo, which agreed to preinstall the BlueStacks app player on Idea-branded desktops and laptops. Added to previous deal with PC makers like AMD, Asus, and MSI, the move should help give BlueStacks an customer base of over 100 million PCs this year.

Photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat