launch

Microsoft appears to be pushing out the golden envelopes for the final reveal-all of Windows Phone 8. The event is scant on actual details but the data is locked in for 5pm GMT on October 29th, London. This matches the upcoming event in San Francisco.

The events held so far have seen journalists physically restricted from properly playing with the OS, so aside from videos and SDKs precious few have any idea how well it works on a real device.

New, crisp, clean website designs are just a start

Microsoft has been busy launching new services, designs for established properties, and keeping a number of secrets under wraps in the run up to the eventful weeks ahead. We've been looking forward to this part of 2012 as it'll be when Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, Surface tablets, Office, new Xbox update, and - of course - Halo 4. 

We've already seen Microsoft go big with the launch Outlook.com to replace the aging Live / Hotmail email service, but the software giant has revealed plans to apply changes across the board. Yesterday we covered a detailed blog post that walked readers through the new design that'll be applied to the MSN portal later this month - changes have been applied to Microsoft web properties, including the official website as well as the home of Visual Studio (see above).

ThinkPad 2 for $799 w/keyboard?

Last night we popped by PepCom, a little tech event that happens every few months here in New York City. We were curious if Samsung would be there with their ATIV lineup (answer: no) and we were hoping to maybe spot some interesting tidbits for you folks. We're not too heavily focused on tablets here, but sometimes we find out things.

For instance, we managed to get our mitts on the upcoming Lenovo Thinkpad 2, sporting Windows 8 Pro and a 10.1” 1,366 x 768 IPS display. Impressions? It’s very nice and we’re kind of itching to get one, especially with its reported 10 hour battery life, 2MP/8MP camera, AT&T LTE, NFC, USB ports and even a stylus.

New information has come forth confirming October 21^st for the Lumia 920 launch

The technology site BGR recently cited Sunday, October 21^st as the launch date for the Nokia Lumia 920. At the time, we gave a low rating to the rumor due to two reasons: BGR’s rumor track record (52% on Tracour) and the fact that the date conflicts with other word-of-mouth bits of information.

However, Windows Phone Central has now come across new documentation circulating within AT&T that does indeed confirm the date of October 21^st as an important day for the upcoming Nokia flagship phone. This is not the same info that presumably BGR saw (or was told) due to its recency. 

Nokia has announced that their music streaming service is to finally get launched in the U.S. Whilst many countries have seen the service up and running for a while the U.S. has, to date, been left out in the cold.

Not so anymore, Nokia brags about their service having over 150 playlists from Detroit house to Classical music. U.S. users will also be able to take advantage of creating custom playlists and even downloading the playlist for offline use.

We knew a while back about the proposed Odyssey and Marco handsets from Samsung. Well it looks like some more detailed specs and pricing has emerged. With Windows Phone 8 only a whisper away from being launched it seems as if the leaks just keeps on coming.

Samsung are one of Microsoft’s launch partners and it looks like we can expect some impressive hardware for this round of devices. One device is reported to have a 4” screen and the other a whopping 4.8” HD AMOLED display.. Rumour caution is advised in lieu of an official announcement.

Microsoft will be unveiling its Windows RT Surface tablets this coming October with a price tag of $199, according to an Engadget source. Microsoft first unveiled the Surface family of Windows tablets earlier this year, and pricing rumours have been flying all around the room. The tipster reportedly revealed details from a session at Microsoft's recent TechReady15 conference and notes that the Surface Windows RT tablet will launch on October 26th.

Should Engadget's source be correct, this will definitely put the Surface on the map as an affordable tablet experience compared to competing Android and Apple offerings. With the low-end Windows RT version sporting 32GB storage, Office 2013, a variety of connectivity ports, and weighing in at just 676g, $199 would be an excellent launch price. For comparison sake, the Apple iPad 2 starts from $399 for the 16GB WiFi model (or $499 should you desire the new Retina iPad). Too good to be true?

UK mobile phone retailer Phones 4u has announced today that it will be launching the Samsung Omnia M exclusively. The Windows Phone is said to be arriving into the UK on August 1st when Phones 4u will exclusively stock the device for two months until it opens up for other retailers.

The Omnia M sports a 1Ghz chip, 4" S-AMOLED display, and 4GB of storage, perfect for those who don't require a powerful device and who don't particularly want to splash out on a shiny new Lumia 900. Phones 4u has been able to bag a handful of exclusives on the Windows Phone platform, including the white Lumia 800 / 900.

With news this week that Nokia has had mild to moderate success on AT&T with the Lumia 900 we should not be surprised to hear that a price drop is coming. After all, the phone has been out now for nearly four months and product cycles dictate that there is always something better down the line.

We’re hearing from an AT&T employee (and we verified with someone higher up in the food chain) that the flagship Windows Phone is set to get a $50 price cut this Sunday and will now be offered for $49.99 on a two-year contract--all colors.  That’s in addition to AT&T stores still offering $50 in free accessories making the Lumia 900 a decent deal for new users looking for a solid smartphone.

This Sunday is also a big day for Nokia and AT&T as the pink Lumia 900 is also going on sale, a carrier exclusive. The combo of a pink Lumia 900 for the ladies along with a $50 price tag should give the phone a modest boost in sales--at least that’s probably what AT&T and Nokia are hoping. It should be interesting to see if sales are brisk or stagnant in a few days from now.

Curiously, the Lumia 900 is still the #3 best-seller for AT&T phones on Amazon Wireless and has remained in the position for quite some time. While Amazon Wireless is not a direct reflection on overall sales, it’s a good sign that at least some people are buying it.

Are any of our readers looking to pick up the pink Lumia 900 this weekend for their woman-folk? Does the $50 price tag make it that much sweeter or do you think it won’t matter with sales? Thanks, Danny, for the tip