Big news Microsoft fans: according to well-connected Microsoft enthusiast Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft is going to be having one hell of an October this year; the company is reportedly planning on launching their next major push into the mobile phone space – Windows Phone 8 – on October 29th, with the first devices being released to consumers around that same time.

It’s an interesting choice for sure – Apple’s new iPhone will have likely been on the market for already a month by that point, leaving many would-be expired contracts to have already been fulfilled by those eager to get the latest and greatest from Cupertino. The date is also startlingly close to the release date of Windows 8 (October 26th), so it’s odd that Microsoft would want anything to steal Windows 8′s thunder, even if the spotlight is stolen from within their own company.

Windows Phone 8 is the next major operating system to come out of Microsoft’s mobile phone division, and runs on a full version of Microsoft’s longstanding and well supported NT core, which Windows 8 and Windows RT also uses. The new release will not be available to older phones, though they will be getting Windows Phone 7.8.

Source: ZDNet