PayPal delivers for Windows 8 developers
Windows 8 developers get a PayPal API for in-app purchases, as Microsoft announces a slew of big-name apps in the works.
Hot on the heels of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's revelation that Microsoft has sold more than 4 million copies of Windows 8, PayPal has unveiled today a Windows 8 developer API
The PayPal API lets developers tie in-app purchases to PayPal, which claims more than 100 million active accounts. Microsoft pointed to the free Crowdstar game Fish With Attitude as an example of a Windows Store app that uses PayPal for in-app purchases of game characters.
The API lets people pay from a more familiar, better-established system than Microsoft's neophyte in-house one. This isn't Microsoft's first Windows 8 connection to PayPal, as the service is available to use when purchasing the Windows 8 upgrade.
Other new apps announced as in the works by Microsoft include a full PayPal app, ESPN, Dropbox, Lego, Disney, NASA, and the Unity gaming platform. Meanwhile, Twitter just announced that it is also developing a Windows 8 app, part of a post-Windows 8 release move by many to start adapting to the new operating system. No doubt, though, Microsoft would've preferred to have those apps ready from day one, since the lack of a Windows 8 app was a broadly noted weakness.
One thing that isn't clear yet is how many developers are building Windows Store apps that will work on Windows 8 and Windows RT, or just Windows 8. Google's search app, for example, is currently restricted to the full x86 version of Windows 8.