Demonstrates 82-inch slate, PayPal in-app purchasing

Microsoft has sold over four million upgrades for Windows 8 in the first few days after its launch. Speaking at the Build developers event on the Microsoft campus, CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed the number in his keynote speech, alongside announcements for more Windows 8 apps, such as PayPal, Dropbox, and ESPN.

The figure of four million doesn't take into account the "tens of millions" sold to corporate customers, and it wasn't clear if the number included those buying the System Builder edition of the operating system. Microsoft Surface was also touched upon, but sales numbers were not disclosed.

Demonstrations were performed on-stage by what was called an "82-inch Slate" by Ballmer. A large screen from the previously-acquired Perceptive Pixel will be sold by the company at an "affordable price" for corporate use.

In terms of new apps, the keynote covered PayPal's Windows 8 API, which will allow developers to accept PayPal payments within Windows Store apps, which in the case of free-to-play games, would allow for in-game microtransactions. The Dropbox app will allow the cloud service to synchronize photographs, documents and videos, though it is likely to be a customized Windows 8 experience rather than the current synchronization-only software currently supplied by the service.

The preview of the ESPN app saw scores and sports news combined into one location, allowing access to ESPN The Magazine, photo galleries, and ESPN podcasts as well as video. The app will take advantage of Windows 8's pinning feature to allow users to pin individual sports to their Start Screen.

By Electronista Staff

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computers, software, Microsoft, developer, Windows, Paypal, ESPN, Windows 8, Dropbox, Steve Ballmer