You knew it was coming, and Microsoftober™ is nearly upon us. This week we had a full-blown case of television commercials and pre-order announcements ahead of the Windows 8 insanity, but there was other news too.

In this edition of WPD Bits, we also talk about a possible buyer for Sprint, a certain Nokia device making its way through the FCC, and telltale signs that Zune may finally be coming to an end. It's all right after the break!

First Windows 8 commercial airs during NFL Sunday

To get the monumental month of Microsoftober going, the company has begun the first step in their $1.5 billion dollar assault: a teaser commercial. On heavy rotation during today's NFL football games, Microsoft is making sure that the numbers 8, 10, 26, and 2012 is on everyone's minds for the next two weeks. P.S. The song is Eagles of Death Metal - "I Only Want You".

Japanese operator Softbank has plans to acquire Sprint, obtain 70% stake in company

This may surprise you, but only two of America's four national carriers are actually homegrown in the United States. Verizon is owned by Vodafone and T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telecom, while Sprint and AT&T are independent. However, it looks like that may change because Sprint is going to have a new boss soon: Japan's Softbank. According to CNBC, the telecom company is prepared to pay a staggering $20 billion dollars in exchange for a 70% stake in Sprint. Essentially, that percentage means a full takeover of the company and Softbank's full authority over any and all actions. With T-Mobile trying to ascertain MetroPCS, the American carrier market should become very interesting in the next few months. [ Via: Engadget / Source: CNBC ]

Nokia RM-845 passes through the FCC, most likely Verizon's Lumia 822

Much has been leaked about Verizon's upcoming Lumia this week from renders, to hands-on photos, and even a price. In case you weren't convinced this device is real, perhaps a new FCC filing for a Nokia RM-845 will change your mind. The device, sketched out above, matches the shape of what we've seen of the Lumia 822 and the documents show that the hardware supports Verizon's LTE bands. This thing is real folks, so get used to it hanging around for the next several months. [ Source: FCC ]

More signs point to the rise of Xbox Music and fall of Zune

There's been mounting evidence that Microsoft is nearly ready to swap out Zune for Xbox Music, but this week kicked things up a notch. The Zune Twitter account is getting rebranded to Entertainment on Xbox, a revised User Agreement was sent out to Windows Phone users this week that gives Microsoft access to track your music interests (seen above), and Zune Pass made its way into three new territories. [ Via: Neowin ]