We live in an app-dominated world and it could be disheartening to note that the latest device you just purchased barely has apps available for you to use. Users of the new Microsoft Surface Pro and other Windows 8 devices are sure to be in such a conundrum.

Don’t lose hope as there are ways to get at least thousands of Android apps to work on your Windows devices or even tablets that run on AMD processors. Here are some ways on how to go about doing just that:

AMD+ Bluestacks Technology = Naturally Android – Thanks to a recent AMD and BlueStacks partnership, Windows 8 users will automatically be able to leverage the huge app ecosystem that Android enjoys. BlueStacks’ LayerCake technology runs the AMD AppZone Player thereby letting its users. BlueStacks also brings up its “CloudConnect” technology – a server-based technology that lets users connect to a cloud to allow users to sync their apps and SMS (Short Messaging Service).

Bluestacks can do the heavy lifting – Windows 8 barely has about 40,000 apps and counting, which is not much in the world that’s pampered with millions of apps (such as those for Apple and Android). Even Blackberry is racing ahead with some super fast app development and that brings a lot of pressure on for Windows with new devices such as the Surface Pro.

Bluestacks is an Android emulator built for PC and Mac. It lets you use apps exclusively developed for Android thereby trying to bridge the gap for users who might want a taste of what Android has to offer. Windows 8 happens to be a natural host for Bluestacks and it has the ability to let users dive into the super pool of more than 700,000 apps available for Android.

AdroVM – an open-source code that runs on Virtual Box or VMware Workstation. Essentially, you’ll require using virtualization and running another computer inside of your computer to make this happen. It’s not for normal users though and it’d require you to have some coding and mobile technology expertise. Running AndroVM isn’t as easy as “Click and go” – you’d need to work with multiple trials and see if every single app you need works on Windows or not.

Some other geeky options include the Android x86 – another open source platform that allows you to stack up and emulate android apps on your PC. While it’s free to download, it does require a lot more than your ability to click and drag. It’s a code-heavy application and it’s best used if you are a developer or at least have access to someone who knows how to emulate apps using open- source emulators.

The need to get as many apps for Windows users is a dear one as Microsoft is still the world leader as far as the number of machines on sale goes. Not having apps on the market place could literally put a crunching stop to the hitherto undefeated juggernaut.

Our final verdict, however, unequivocally goes to Bluestacks for a number of reasons:

• 1. It’s easy to get started with Bluestacks without any need for coding or developer tricks.
• 2. BlueStacks almost comes pre-welded to most modern Windows machines such as the Surface Pro.
• 3. In cases where you cannot automatically use BlueStacks’ LayerCake technology to use Android apps on your Windows 8 Devices, you can at least use the cloud-based version of Bluestacks.
• 4. Since most of Bluestacks technology is on the cloud, your apps – complete with any resident data in it – stays with you especially when you decide to sell your laptop.

How do you plan to run your Android apps on your Windows Machine? What tricks do you have up your sleeve to make it happen?

Thanks to Jeff Davis, who is living in California and currently associated with Quick Laptop Cash – A place for selling laptop online. He has been into this field since last 6 years and responsible for troubleshoot issues; interact to discuss projects, technology solutions. When he is not working, he enjoys hanging out with his beautiful wife.

Microsoft has had a tough time breaking the tablet market, but there could be plans that could change this. While we always ask for more features for a greater user experience, one of the biggest factors when it comes to tablets is the price, so news of a new $200 Windows 8 tablet price point has brought a lot of excitement to those who prefer this platform to the others.

According to Intel, this will be a perfect way for Microsoft to penetrate the inexpensive tablet market. It does seem as though Redmond is serious about the cheaper tablet market, as we already know there could be plans to release a smaller Surface tablet.

One of the reasons why Microsoft will be able to reduce the price of a touch-enabled Windows 8 tablet is because of the new Bay Trail processors, which is a redesign of the Atom CPU. According to an article from CNET News, this new processor will be far cheaper than what is currently on offer, but will also deliver stunning performance, which are two of the most important things.

We cannot say when we expect to see the first $200 Windows 8 tablet, but we do hope to see them arrive later this year. However, Microsoft will not have it easy, or their partners, as there is already an array of $200 – $300 tablets about to hit the market, such as the Nexus 7 sequel.

However, what we do find more interesting is the fact that there could also be $200 Windows 8 laptops as well, which could penetrate the cheaper tablet market. We’d love to know what you think of this, because in one hand it does sound like a very good move, but on the other what kind of specs would you expect to get with a $200 Windows 8 laptop?

Going back several years ago the only computer device that you had in your home was the desktop PC, but things have changed since then and the desktop PC has seen a sales decline. The first reason for this was because laptops became more powerful, but it wasn’t until the release of the tablet that things changed massively.

While some of us still need powerful computers in our homes, this is not the case with all of us. Computer manufactures knew that if they were ever to help revive the desktop PC then they needed to think out of the box. Their answer was an all-in-one PC with a difference, and while they will never help the desktop get back to where it once was, it’s nice to see that sales have slowly begun to pick up.

The iMac is considered one of the best all-in-one computers, but what if you are not into Apple? With some digging around we have come up with the best Windows 8 all-in-one PCs, and have found some visual reviews to help you decide out of this quartet.

First up is the Sony Vaio Tap 20, and you will notice that the moment you begin to use the computer it’s a little slower than a standard desktop. However sacrifices have to be made, but the 1.7GHz Core i7 CPU and a price of below $1000 makes this very appealing.

Next we have the Dell XPS One 27 and while this may not be as cheap as the model above, you can see right away why that is, and that’s because of how user friendly and easy it is to take advantage of the Windows 8 touchscreen features.

The Sony VAIO L (Late 2012 model) is an all-in-one desktop that goes a little further than some of the other models, even the entry-level model has monster specs to keep most home users happy.

Finally we have the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720, which was first launched with Windows 7, but has been given a new lease of life with Windows 8. Not only is this model feature rich, but also has the best looking design as well – maybe this is why the McLaren F1 team has them as a sponsor.

These are four of the best Windows 8 all-in-on PCs around, and you can view a detailed review for each of these below. If these are not to your liking, then what model would you choose and why?

Whenever we enter a new year there is always doom and gloom from analysts who say that things are not going to be that great in the first part of the year, but will pick up in the second half. Which is why we are not surprised to hear that sales of laptops will begin a little slow.

We are promised that things will be okay thanks to Windows 8 Ultrabooks and their use of Touchscreen technology, as they will help to revive the market once more. There is a multitude to choose from with new models being released on a regular basis. The Chromebook will help as well, and a recent review over the best on the market does show one thing, they not only offer pretty decent performance, they are reasonably priced as well – apart from the Chromebook pixel that is.

We know that there are several new Windows 8 Ultrabooks coming to the market, but we thought several reviews of the best you can currently purchase in 2013 would help you make that all-important decision. The price of these are not as cheap as you would pay for a Chromebook, but these hybrid devices have a lot more to offer in terms of performance – if that’s what you are looking for off course.

The Best Windows 8 Ultrabooks that you can currently get this year would have to be the Dell Inspiron 15z, Asus VivoBook S400CA, Dell XPS 12, Acer Aspire S7 and finally the Dell XPS 13 FHD. It’s clear from the start that all these devices are in a different league to those Chromebooks when mentioned in our previous post, but the price of these five Ultrabooks could be enough to put buyers off, this could also be the reason why sales will be pretty slow to start with this year.

You’ll notice that we have not gone into the specs of each because it’s much easier for you to view these five visual reviews, this way you will be able to see which is best for you. We’d love to hear from you as to which model you have and why you selected it.

Another day, another Xbox 720 rumor. We’re sure you’re starting to get a bit tired of the constant next-gen rumors, but as history has told us in the past – frequent rumors usually means that something big is bound to happen soon. While Sony are preparing to announce their next console on February 20, we’re now hearing that Microsoft may be looking to equip the next Xbox with integrated Windows 8 support.

While we don’t know for certain what new interface the next Xbox will have, it is a logical assumption for Microsoft to continue to extend the Windows 8 love to the Xbox after debuting the new software on recent products such as the Surface Pro tablet. Full Windows support would be an interesting move for the Xbox, but it could be more likely that we’ll see a streamlined version of Windows instead, like Windows RT that featured on the first Surface product.

An ex-Microsoft exec has hinted that Windows 8 is definitely going to be featured on the Xbox ’720′ in some form, but the interesting thing to add to this is that Microsoft may be including some touchscreen functionality as well. The first question to this though is how it would work on the average TV set?

Imagine if Microsoft are planning a controller similar to the Wii U GamePad which incorporates touch screen features into the general gameplay setup – otherwise how else would touch controls work other than on a controller? If an ex Microsoft exec is hinting of these features though, it is obviously worth paying a little more attention to, than just the average rumor with no substance.

If you could visualize the perfect Xbox 720 user interface, what would you like to see? Do you welome touchscreen input and perhaps full PC support via Windows 8? Hopefully Microsoft will reveal all soon.

It was Apple that begun the craze of an ultra-thin laptop with their MacBook Air in 2008 and since then there has been a number of ultraboooks that wanted to take on that device. Over the years there have been some pretty impressive ones, and the latest is the LG U560 15-inch ultrabook. However, looking at the image below some consumers might say that this is more like a MacBook clone running Windows 8.

Okay, so we know that anytime we see a thin laptop made from metal rather than cheap and nasty plastic they will always be compared to a MacBook, but we’d rather that than the alternative, yet another plain looking ultrabook made from black plastic. However, those claims that the U560 looks like a MacBook are inaccurate, this is because it also looks a lot like other ultrabooks on the market, as well as the fact that the bottom is made from plastic.

While the video below is hard to understand because it’s in Korean, you can get an idea of how good the LG U560 ultrabook actually looks. As we said above you get a 15.6-inch display and we’re also told that there will be a not too shabby Intel Core i5 1.8GHz processor and SSD (although we are not certain as to its capacity) and also dedicated graphics.

The release of the U560 ultrabook will only be in South Korea at first, but we’re sure that LG will make it available to other countries in the not too distant future. We do worry that the lack of touchscreen (which we know Windows 8 was designed for) could be a bit of an issue for other markets, but would you agree?

We have already seen a few of the new products Toshiba are promoting at CES 2013, an Ultra HD 4K TV is one of them, and today we’ve heard about Toshiba embracing Windows 8 with some ultrabooks that when combined with the new Microsoft operating system, merges the line between computers and tablets.

The two Windows 8 ultrabooks include the Satellite U845W, which features a super-wide 21:9 screen that would be perfect for movie lovers, and those of you that want to run apps side-by-side. That wider display makes performing these tasks much easier. There might not be a touch screen this year for this model, but you gain 30% more screen real estate. You can see a hands-on with the Satellite U845W in the video below, which had been shot during CES within the last 24 hours.

You will also see the Toshiba Satellite U925T featured during the video, although this ultrabook does feature a touch screen and also a folding design, which blurs the line between laptop and tablet further. This is a nice feature if you want the best of both worlds; also the way the computer converts from an ultrabook to tablet is a little different. You only need to push the display flat and then slide forward into a tablet, although the draw back is a slightly heavy portable computer.

Would you consider purchasing one of these new Toshiba ultrabooks running Windows 8? Take a closer look at both in the video below, or see the full Satellite U925T specs on the official website here.

We saw the Dropbox app demonstrated for Windows 8 back in October last year, which is when Microsoft unveiled the software during their developer conference. Today the Dropbox app finally went live in the Windows Store, and is now available to download for your Windows 8 devices, which includes Windows RT users with Microsoft Surface

You’ll be able to edit and open files with other Windows 8 apps, and also share these files, folders, or photos with Share Charm. You shouldn’t expect anything too fancy, although the simple interface does the job well with a similar setup to the web-based Dropbox. You can see the UI in the screenshots on this page, although more can be seen via the official Dropbox page on Microsoft.

If you’re new to Dropbox then watch the official video below that explains what the software does. In a nutshell you’ll be able to share files on all of your computers and phones when and wherever you are. Have you found Dropbox useful, and if so will the support of Windows 8 make things even easier for you?

We looked at some of the best Microsoft Surface apps earlier today, but seeing another big name start supporting Windows 8 will only strengthen the operating system. Microsoft will be hoping more big developers take notice during 2013.

CES is almost upon us and will be great to see what we can look forward to in 2013, but it does seem funny that some tech that was showcased at last years event has yet to be released to the market. Take eye-tracking technology for Windows 8 laptops and desktops for example, we were treated to the Gaze UI interface during CES 2012, but has yet to fully take off. However, Tobii has developed Rex, and while consumers will have to wait until later this year for its release, the system is available to developers today for $995.

Okay, so this isn’t the news that we had been hoping for, but at least it’s another step closer to being able to control Windows 8 enabled laptops and desktops with our pupils. However, we’re told that we should not put our mouse away just yet or forget about our keyboard or touchpad, as REX is said to help assist the current controls that we use.

As we said above there are already such systems, but because these are mainly used as assistive technology most consumers are not interested. However, because the REX eye-tracking system is designed to work in conjunction with the keyboard, trackpad and mouse, we are certain that it will have more success with mainstream consumers.

Tobii is hoping to have at least 5,000 units of their eye-tracking system, which is said to be the size of a pen, before the end of 2013. There has been some concern over such technology in the past, as some people were worried that they would make a selection but were just looking at a dirt spec on the screen instead. However, because this is just an add-on and the use of a mouse and keyboard are still required, we are sure that such things will not be an issue.

Having learned that the HP Envy x2 tablet was going to be delayed did not come as a great shock considering some issues that Intel are currently having. However, you’ll be pleased to hear that the HP Envy x2 is finally available and should ship to customers in time for Christmas, although some of the other range of Windows 8 tablets will not be so lucky to see a release before the year is out.

If you have yet to order your HP Envy x2 hybrid tablet then we are told that you will have to wait until January before it will ship, but if you were one of the lucky ones then you should receive your device tomorrow, although we have learned that a few lucky ones have already taken possession of the x2. The HP Envy x2 price is $849.99, and although it sounds pretty expensive, you have to consider that this Windows 8 convertible tablet come laptop is something pretty special – well that’s what HP tell us anyway.

While we await the first HP Envy x2 review from a consumer perspective, there have already been a slew of early reviews from some exerts in the field, and the early signs have looked pretty decent so far. However, the HP Envy x2 video review that we have for you below does give you a good idea of what the consumer will think of the new convertible device.

Okay, so the HP Envy x2 specs are not going to top any benchtests, but they are more than impressive for this kind of device. What you will get is a Intel Atom 1.8GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and 64GB SSD, all of which is encased within a solid design.

Is the Envy x2 for you? If you are to use this hybrid device as your main laptop then you are limited on space because of the 64GB SSD and you have to remember that the processor will not be up to the job of some demanding tasks, but if you are looking for a tablet come laptop and will not need it for anything demanding, then you could do a lot worse that the Envy x2 from Hewlett Packard.