Windows Phone Central heads to Microsoft’s Build 2014 dev conference

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That time is upon us, folks! Microsoft is hosting their annual Build conference, where the company is expected to announce, reveal, tantalize and woo developers with their new and updated creations. Being that you’re at Windows Phone Central, you’re probably concerned with one particular aspect: Windows Phone 8.1.

The Windows Phone Central team is en route to San Francisco as we speak to cover the massive event. Sam Sabri, myself and Mark Guim will all be on the ground, bringing you the latest and greatest coverage as it happens. Rich Edmonds, George Ponder, Michael Archambault, and Paul Acevedo will be covering our flank while we’re gone, picking up those stories that we’ve missed.

So what’s the plan?

The big events are the two keynotes on Wednesday and Thursday, both beginning at 8:30 AM PT / 11:30 AM ET / 4:30 PM GMT / 9:00 PM IST Don’t worry, we’ll put up a reminder post later with a link to check for your time zone later today.

Will the keynotes be live streamed?

Yes. We’ll try to continue our tradition of embedding the live stream here on the site, giving you folks a chat room and our live blog (which is usually a few seconds ahead of the stream). We’ll deliver live commentary with photos, assuming everything connects up.

When will Windows Phone 8.1 be announced?

All signs point to Wednesday, during the morning keynote. That event is a whopping 3 hours, so Microsoft evidently has a lot to talk about. Windows Phone 8.1 will be but one of those topics, but we expect news on the Surface, Xbox One, LIVE, Microsoft Azure, and maybe even Windows 9.

Seeing as the keynote focuses on various Microsoft technologies, don’t expect it to be all Windows Phone 8.1 though.

What else is going on?

During the day, there will be several ‘sessions’ going on geared towards developers, though we’ll cover those too in case anything interesting pops ups. Later, at 5 PM PT, Nokia will take to the stage for their own announcement. They’re expected to talk about at least two devices: Lumia 630 and Lumia 930. We’ve heard that the Lumia 630 with Windows Phone 8.1 will be one of the audience-giveaways, most likely during the Thursday keynote. A second rumor also claims that the Lumia 930, but with Windows Phone 8, will also be handed to developers in attendance. We’ll have to wait and see.

When it comes to Windows 9, Microsoft may talk about their “vision” of next year’s expected update, and we certainly expect something about Windows 8.1 Update 1. In addition, some people are chattering about a touch-optimized Office suite – something that has been rumored for some time now. That would be ideal for you Surface users out there, and hopefully Microsoft delivers.

Where to catch us?

The WPCentral crew will also head to the DVLUP and Blogger Bash events for some meet-and-greets, in addition to unwinding. Make sure to say hello if you see us!

Want follow our adventure? Check us out on Twitter and Instagram:

Regardless, you can expect us to do our best to bring the news as it happens. Do you want to read just the Build news this week? Then bookmark www.wpcentral.com/build2014, as that will be our homepage for all news tagged for Build. Share it, check it often starting tomorrow.

Enough of my chitter chatter, what do you people expect Microsoft to unveil this week? Sound off in comments!

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Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and wearable tech. He has reviewed laptops for over 10 years and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, Arm64 processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, performed polysomnographs in NYC, and was a motion-picture operator for 17 years.