This week has been one filled with public appearances by key Windows Phone players, most importantly Nokia and Microsoft. A few days ago, we heard a rumor backed by Mary Jo Foley that Windows Phone 8 was on track for a November release. However at Nokia's Q2 earnings call, CEO Stephen Elop suggested that the company would be first to Windows Phone 8. He said that the new OS has, "been demonstrated on Nokia hardware", and that the companies have been working together closely to develop WP8's software and hardware plans.

Now some have taken this quote, plus Nokia's decision to push Nokia World 2012 up to early September instead of October, to mean that we could see the first Lumia handsets running Windows Phone 8 before anyone else. In other words, that Nokia would have an exclusive period (possibly one month) where they would be the only manufacturer selling WP8 devices.

This is pure speculation from the Windows Phone world, and to dispel any misunderstandings, no one actually knows what's going to happen. We're personally more curious to see if Microsoft lets every manufacturer launch the devices themselves (like 7.5's launch last year), or if they coordinate a launch with all of their partners, a la the Windows Phone 7 launch in 2010. Something tells us the latter, because Microsoft knows it needs to get Windows Phone 8's launch right this time. We'll just have to wait and see.

Via: WMPU, MobileSyrup