Reminder: Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 Launch is today

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Just a quick reminder that today Microsoft will officially launch Windows Phone 8.  The launch event is being held in San Francisco and is slated to start at 10AM PST / 1PM EST.  Microsoft will show off to the world their new mobile OS originally code named ‘Apollo’.

Along with all the Windows Phone goodness, maybe availability and pricing will come into better focus from the various carriers slated to carry these new devices.

Whatever may develop, Windows Phone Central will of course be there in sunny San Francisco to cover the event and bring you all the news as it happens. Afterwards, we're off to BUILD 12 the very next day to continue our Windows Phone 8 coverage.

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

94 Comments
  • Let the count down begin...tick tick tick
  • Finally. ....fuck
  • Hahaha that's what was thinkin
  • LOL I know how you feel.  I remember back in July, I was dissapointed that they didn't show any features for WP8 at the Summit.  Then in September, I remember reading an article that Nokia will "show all" of WP8 at their event.  Ended up that they showed very litte as well and I was pissed. 
  • I need money for a Lumia 920... :-(
  • You could whore yourself out to 50 fat chicks for $ or one really fat chick for $$$$$.
  • pahahaha xD
  • You've been watching Family Guy too much... Lol.
  • Hey there is nothing wrong with a thick woman, I love them way, lol some men don't like skin and bones lol
  • You're terrible! :-P
  • Sell your old phone.  That's what I'm doing. :)
  • Im sending my 900 to Ukraine, lowest price for it 450$ instead of 100$ here in states
  • Sadly I'll have to wait till february to renew my plan and get one. Great article - thanks for taking the time.
    There is one design flaw, in my opinion, that should have been addressed. With all buttons on the same side, it's almost impossible to get a car holder that will not press or block one of the buttons.
  • There'd better be a livestream :D
  • My thoughts exactly. Anyone know where this is being streamed?
  • Agreed. I'm lucky that my classes for the day are over at the time the event starts, so a livestream will be perfect.
  • You're done with class at 10 am? Jesus man if I had that kind of schedule I would drop out!
  • Well, 11am based on my local time (Colorado), but that's only on Mondays and Fridays. Tuesday-Thursday are pretty full days.
  • He could be living in Europe, for instance
  • Woooo so freakin excited.
  • I feel like the release of these next Gen phones has been taking forever -_- at least it's finally coming
  • U mean foggy San Francisco?
  • No, he's correct. It's October, sunshine and (normal) Summer like weather.
  • Yep!
  • Can't wait and hoping that my carrier will announce at least one WP8 at this point I'd be happy with any WP8 really.
  • Unless you have Sprint, you're in good hands.
  • I'll be watching on my surface.
  • So jealous! How you finding it?
  • I can't speak for him, but mine is freaking awesome.  Best decision I've made in awhile.  Check this out too, speech recognition works super well on the surface too.  Just discovered that feature, and it is amazing.
  • Well, I hope MS has plans to highlight this feature in a commercial. I don't recall speech recognition ever being mentioned as a part of WinRT or Win 8
  • Sadly Silverlight does not work on the surface RT so you might have to watch the stream elsewhere.
  • I'll be watching on my recently upgrade Win8 Pro x64 Tab :)
  • Well, I'll see you there! Should be great. Then I go to Redmond next week.
    life is good. :-)
  • I'm on nights and should be getting up same time as this is starting up.Very excited. Hoping EE announces dates for 920 launch un UK.
  • I really hope they'll reveal the release date for Windows 7.8 as well. There are a lot of people with a WP7 that won't be able to immediately get a WP8 device.
  • +1
  • I won't until I know if MS is making a surface phone....I'm holding out and will upgrade to WP7.8 on my lumia 900 until a MS device is denied all together. As much as I love the L920's design and the technology included, I will opt for a MS built unit if it comes true and follows the design principal of the surface.
  • Hopefully see some BIG NAME App announcements.....I've heard a whisper INSTAGRAM might get a mention..ooooooohhhhhhh
  • I hope they don't even mention apps like draw something or instagram. Fodder for haters
  • Static IP is a must, if it's not in when it's time for me to get a new phone, I will sadly have to go Android. Please don't let me down Microsoft.
  • Odd requirement. Can't you use DHCP reservations?
  • No, I need static IP and many others are required to do that where they work. It's not an odd requirement at all.
  • I'm using 7.8 and it has the option for static ip so I'm sure WP8 will as well.
  • I'm glad 7.8 has it.
     
    Wait. What?
  • He means 7.8 leaked beta ROM. If July beta has it, damn right WP8 has it!
  • Mention to your IT dept that they can put a reservation in DHCP with your MAC and its just as good as a static
  • Not all workplaces allow that for security reasons, even if mac registration is atleast more secure than just connecting via dhcp only. Personally, I need it for my home network for various reasons, and as it is now, I can't connect my phone to my network. I could get a second router I know, but I shouldn't have to :)
  • Yes, it really IS an odd requirement. It's extremely uncommon to REQUIRE users to know/enter in static IP address information. Most users don't even know what an IP is let alone how to set one. DHCP reservation is far more efficient if it really is necessary.
  • +1
  • I run an IT department and yours is being kind of mean if they won't help you with a DHCP reservation. And @ DrToker, I've never met a home router that didn't allow for reservations. Even the cheap version your ISP provides should do it.
  • I've been in a situation where I needed to assign static IP's at home... But it was for a 2-router setup and the DHCP servers were having issues with each other. I disabled DHCP on one, but I had some issues connecting to the DHCP on the other so it was easier to assign static IP's. It's all resolved now, but I can at least understand that it might be necessary for some.
  • Of course I can have reservations, but when you set your router to static, there is no way to connect your phone since the router no longer gives it the information needed and there is no way to put that information in yourself. I could of course connect a router to my router and have that one run DHCP for my phone, but why should I have to?
  • I'm waiting for 7.8 damnit
  • Flash a custom Rom. I've bee using 7.8 for a few weeks now. I love it and the custom ROM is more stable than the official!
  • That's an android FUD!
    All custom ROMs are based on 7.8 beta from July, a ROM loaded with bugs.
    Your ME tile, Music  and Xbox hubs dont immediately change accents.
    Calendar does not update.
    Custom Hubs like - HTC Hub, don't revert to large tiles.
    Picutres hub - won't revert to large tiles.
    HTC SRS doesn't always work. 
    These are a few from top of my head, but I've seen plenty! 
    So NO it isn't any more stable than stock ROMs. All official stocks on all devices perform much stable and faster than any custom ROM. #thisisnotandroid.
  • Okay, well it has bugs that I haven't came across, but it has never crashed on me and works better than the offical ROM.  I had to continuously turn off wi-fi or cellular depending on where I'm at because the phone always defaulted to cellular even when in my basement with 1 bar.  Now, I don't have any issues, I can finally leave them both turned on.  Also, I used to flash custom ROMs to my windows mobile devices long before Android ever came out.
  • Can it be done in HTC arrive? I used to do those with wm6-6.5 but no more #thisisnotandroid
  • 5pm GMT. Sucky, I'll be stuck on a train during most of the announcement!
  • I hope they announce the Wells Fargo app for WP 7.8/8!!! Ha, I doubt it.
  • Do you guys think they will reveal 7.8 features tommorow?
  • It will get a mention but I suspect the focus will be on 8 leading to just basic information on 7.8
  • Terminating my Tmo contract early and going to AT&T for the L920. Can't wait. Won't actually cost much more to terminate than one month's bill, and when I inquired about early termination, they gave me a free month, so while it may be a jerk move after that niceness, It saves me enough money to make the switch. :P
  • @Unicornageddon, good for you bro. My buddy is doing exact same thing.
  • I'll be at work when the livestream airs (I was seriously pondering wheter to call out for work).
     
    I have this thing where I actually prefer to watch the unveiling live (or recorded) before reading any actual coverage from tech sites. I want to feel as wowed as those attending or watching.
     
    So, any idea if they  (or WPCentral) will put up a recorded version of the event for folks that want to see it later? Kind of like they did with the Windows 8 event?
  • Microsoft usually streams it live and later makes it available for on-demand viewing . I did that for the Windows 8 conference.
  • Anyone know where I could get the background image on the phone?
  • Woohoo, look forward to see Joe do the presentation.
  • Finally..ao when can I get 7.8zz
  • I know it's very unlikely, but I would be so happy tomorrow to hear a super surprise announcement that T-Mobile (US) and Verizon are both getting the Lumia 920.
    In any case, I hope they live stream the event so I can watch it as it happens.
  • I don't think that is going to happen but it would be really cool to see that. They might say that the lumia 920 might be a time exclusive :P 
  • Maybe unrelated, but what about Windows Phone integration into Windows 8?
    I still don't see any way of managing my Windows Phone without Zune Software.
  • Drag and drop and an optional syncing client is what it seems like it'll be based on what we know. But I'm sure they'll address that tomorrow.
  • Do you mean WP7 and Windows 8 - Zune works for that. I am doing it as I type.
  • Yup I know that...
  • Wonder when 7.8 will be pushed out. :-]
  • It will be better than ios5!!
  • You mean 6?
  • I thinkin he is saying iOS 5 bc is the most stable of iOS 6 :P 
  • Daniel or George or someone, can you comment on the streaming question that so many of us have? I would very much like to not work for an hour while i watch. Did it for the Nokia announcement and it was awesome!
  • Just check this site tomorrow. They'll post a link.
  • Guys the countdown clock is very useful. Now I have to keep calculating when I should expect to view the event.
    Please put the countdown clock on this post.
  • Damn... That's 1am on Tuesday for me :( I'll have to watch it afterwards
  • Hope that 7.8 comes out soon after 8 drops.
  • I am going to be there! Remember that contest that @benthepcguy had on Twitter about writing something about how much you love Windows Phone? I WON A TICKET :)
    I flew to San Fran today and walked past where the event is being held. The outside graphics sure looked cool! :)
  • Very cool. Try to sit on the ends of middle isle. I noticed during the surface presentation they gave at least 3 tablets to the people in middle isle. Maybe they will give out some free phones.
  • Its about freaking time lol
  • I just hope Ativ availability will be released. Eff everything else.
  • I just hope I have power to keep up to date.
    Everyone in Northeast stay safe!
  • Is there a way I can watch the stream on my 900? I'm at work while the announcement is occurring.
  • You watch live http://blogs.windows.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2012/10/28/how-to-watch-our-windows-phone-8-event.aspx
  • You are my hero.
  • If they use WMV I guess we could, but windows 8 unveiling was streamed via flash or Silverlight so I doubt it
  • where can i get that background picture?
  • Anyone knows where a i find this lockscreen wallpaper in the picture?