WinPho 7 Launch Still Months Away - The UpStream

We have been keeping you up to date with news of Windows Phone 7 Series comes to light, with exclusive chats on app development and gaming with Microsoft's team leaders on the project. Microsoft has always said that WinPho 7 would be launched around the holidays and has never given any specific information beyond that until a couple weeks ago, when a Microsoft rep mistakenly let slip that the launch would be around October.

More speculation and rumors started flying when we learned that AT&T stores were receiving marketing materials with WinPho 7 on it, which meant launch time could be when the stores were to refresh their signage - anywhere from July 24th to September.

Check after the break to see if Microsoft can launch WinPho 7 in time!

However, this doesn't seem to be probable as the software still isn't even ready. Microsoft has been very adamant about making sure developers are given ample time to test the hardware and software before launch to make sure all of the applications are flawless on release day. Developers still haven't received anything to test out and none of the development tools have reached beta. The closest we have so far was the release in April, which was only a preview.

There is some light at the end of this long WinPho 7 tunnel, though. The winners of Microsoft's Imagine Cup have been sent developer handsets, which Sumner Redstone says is the first time anybody outside of the company has been given access to the hardware. We can only assume that a wider availability of the hardware is looming in the near future.

Regardless, October is only three months away and once the software is finalized, manufacturers will need a lot of time to make sure the operating system is going to actually function on the handsets. While it may be a very tight timetable, it looks like October still seems possible - July or August, however, not so much.