Microsoft used the keynote to unveil Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update

Apr 3, 2014 08:22 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft used the first day of BUILD 2014 in San Francisco to unveil a wide array of new products, including Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update which both come with significant improvements.

The opening keynote took almost 3 hours during which several Microsoft executives took the stage to discuss the company’s latest updates, including David Treadwell, Joe Belfiore, Stephen Elop, and Terry Myerson. Satya Nadella was the last one to talk to the audience, answering a few questions submitted by developers across the world.

Microsoft also announced during the first day at BUILD that Windows would be offered free of charge to OEMs building tablets and phones with screens below 9 inches in size, but also that the Start menu would return at some point in the future.

The company offered a preview of the touch-based version of Office as well, explaining that Windows 8 users will be able to work on their documents straight in the Modern UI starting sometime later this year.

The concept of universal apps has also been introduced at the show, as Microsoft wants to allow developers to re-use much of the code they create on apps aimed at different devices, including tablets, smartphones, and PCs.