Skip to footer

It's official: Windows Phone 8 will launch October 29th

Microsoft sent press invitations this week announcing the launch of its Windows Phone 8 platform on October 29. The smart phone OS will run on handsets from Nokia, Samsung, and HTC -- and there's a rumor that Microsoft may be working on its own model as well.

|
Brendan McDermid/Reuters/File
Microsoft has set October 29th as the launch date for its Windows Phone 8 mobile OS. Here, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (L) and HTC CEO Peter Chou show HTC phones running Windows Phone 8 in a New York event on September 19.

After months of dropping hints, Microsoft is finally ready to make its big announcement. On October 29, it'll unveil Windows Phone 8, the company's answer to the dominant Android and iOS phone software. The company sent out press invitations on Thursday to a press event in San Francisco on the 29th.

That means we'll finally learn more about the features of the OS, finally get a good look at the handsets it'll run on, and -- if Microsoft sticks to the schedule -- finally get a software development kit so developers can create apps for Windows Phone 8.

Keep in mind that October 29th isn't the date you'll actually be able to buy a Windows Phone 8 handset -- that'll be a few days (or weeks) later. But Microsoft has made only vague promises for so long (until recently, we knew only that Windows Phone 8 would be introduced sometime in autumn) that it's nice to have a specific date to look forward to.

Though there are still a lot of things we don't know about Windows Phone 8, Microsoft has made some details public. Here's a quick rundown of what's already known: the OS has a tile-based look and feel, support for wireless payment (think tapping your phone instead of swiping a credit card), and built-in navigation and video chat.

It'll also be relatively easy to port Android and iOS apps to Windows Phone 8, which should make developers happy. And one other plus: users will be able to get software updates directly from Microsoft, rather than having to wait for carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint to release phone-specific updates -- a common complaint among many Android users.

We know a little bit about the hardware, too: Windows Phone 8 will launch, in the US at least, on the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 handsets, which got rave reviews when they were unveiled earlier this year. Those will be out in November, as will models from Samsung (the Ativ S) and HTC (the 8X and 8S). HTC has promised that it's "going big" on the Windows Phone 8 platform, which may mean there are new phones still in store.

There's an interesting rumor bouncing around, too: one that says Microsoft will also make its own Windows Phone 8 handset to compete more directly with Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S III. The rumor started with an article in the China Times, and was corroborated by the rumors site Boy Genius Report, and while it should be taken with an extra grain of salt, it's also worth remembering that Microsoft did basically the same thing earlier this year with the Surface tablet: a Microsoft-branded device that competes with the company's own hardware manufacturers. It's not impossible that the company would want to make its own smart-phone model, too.

Readers, are you looking forward to the launch? Considering a Windows Phone 8 handset, or satisfied with your current smart phone? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more on how technology intersects daily life, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to It's official: Windows Phone 8 will launch October 29th
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2012/1005/It-s-official-Windows-Phone-8-will-launch-October-29th
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe