Amazon announces Amazon AppStream for developers

SEATTLE, USA: At AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services Inc., an Amazon.com company, announced Amazon AppStream, a new service that provides developers with the ability to stream resource intensive applications, such as 3D games or interactive HD applications, from the cloud.

With Amazon AppStream, content is rendered in the cloud, yet the end-user is still able to enjoy a responsive, fluid and high-definition experience on their device.

Amazon AppStream allows developers the flexibility to stream their entire application, or only the parts of their application that need additional cloud resources.

Developers struggle with the hardware constraints of client devices when building end user applications. Mass-market devices, such as tablets, phones and lightweight laptops, are limited in the amount of power, CPU, and memory available for developers to create their apps and games.

As a result, resource-intensive apps and games can only be accessed from expensive and high-powered PCs or game consoles. This means developers must restrain the types of experiences they create (3D or HD graphics, for example) if they are prioritizing mass-market devices.

With Amazon AppStream, developers can create content that takes advantage of the vast compute and storage resources available in AWS, and then make their applications and games available on a full range of devices.

"Developers have told us that it is frustrating to build and deliver high-end applications for mass-market devices given their hardware constraints. They want to provide spectacular graphics, and responsive, fluid experiences to the largest possible audience regardless of the device a person chooses to use," said Mike Frazzini, GM of Amazon Games.

"Amazon AppStream frees developers from these limitations by allowing them to stream their applications to low-end devices as if these consumers were using high-end devices."  

Amazon AppStream includes an SDK that automatically connects streaming applications running in the cloud to customers' devices, simplifying the development process. The SDK also connects developers' applications to the Amazon AppStream STX Protocol, which manages the streaming process. This protocol monitors network conditions and automatically adapts the video stream to provide a low-latency and high-resolution experience to customers.