BlueStacks has announced that mobile game fans can soon enjoy iPhone and iPad apps on television using its GamePop console that uses a virtualization technology called Looking Glass that has been developed by the company itself.
This move diversifies the offering of the Netflix-like gaming subscription service that has been known for bringing Android games to the PCs and Macs.
"Looking Glass works at the API level - it's not quite virtualization or emulation as you've known it. We recreate the API that iOS provides, but we don't use any Apple bits to do it. So we skip iOS altogether,"said Rosen Sharma, the BlueStacks' CEO in an interview with The Verge.
All the magic, in short, is handled by the Looking Glass and makes the iPhone and iPad gaming experience more fun on the bigger screen.
The Looking Glass technology can be compared to the company's successful Layercake technology that brought mobile apps to the desktop in 2012. It has been downloaded about 10 million times since its release.
BlueStacks said it has formed partnership with big game developers to bring exciting titles to GamePop gaming experience. So far it has sealed a deal with SubAtomic Studios, known for games such as "Fieldrunners," and will also have popular iOS titles, including "Clash of Clans."
"Looking Glass enables these titles to be brought into the living room. Some of the retina iPad games for example look spectacular on TV," said Suman Saraf who works as CTO of BlueStacks in a press statement.
"We're talking with everyone from TV manufacturers to cable companies to carriers," said Apu Kumar, SVP of global sales and development at BlueStacks.
The GamePop console was announced on May 9 along with the introduction of a subscription service. Shipment of the units will start this winter. The package will cost $129 inclusive of the console and a controller. The GamePop console can be free if consumers will sign-up for a 12-month unlimited gaming subscription at $6.99 a month or about $84 a year. This promo will be good until the end of June 2013 (Updated information from the company's website;video below says only until May).
Below is a preview of how GamePop works:
