Windows Phone 8.1 home screen leak
The Windows Phone 8.1 release date has been tipped for April 23 alongside a range of new hardware.
A new report suggests that OEM partners received the final build of Windows Phone 8.1 on March 26 and the new mobile OS will be available from April 23.
Speaking to “various sources” speaking to WPCentral, starting Wednesday April 23 there will be brand new Windows Phone 8.1 devices on the market.
These are heavily anticipated to be the brand new versions of the Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 820 and the Nokia Lumia 620.
According to several leaks these will take the form of the Nokia Lumia 930, Lumia 830 and Lumia 630.
Nokia has scheduled a Nokia Lumia event for Wednesday April 2, which will reportedly be used to launch the aforementioned Windows Phone 8.1 smartphones.
This special event falls on the exact same day as the Microsoft Build Developers’ Conference keynotes, so we expect it will tie in heavily with the Windows Phone 8.1 announcement.
Microsoft is heavily expected to formally unveil the Windows Phone 8.1 update on April 2 as well, which should bring a rather large upgrade to the current Windows Phone 8 OS.
Windows Phone 8.1 should include the heavily rumoured Cortana voice assistant, which looks to be far more advanced than the iOS Siri helper offered by Apple.
Microsoft is also expected to offer the first Windows Phone notifications centre with the next OS update, tipped to be called the Action Centre.
The camera app and overall interface is expected to be tweaked with the 8.1 update as well, with built-in VPN support and Internet Explorer 11 also tipped to make the cut.
Although April 23 has been tipped as the Windows Phone 8.1 release date by the sources, official over-the-air updates may take a little longer thanks to carrier delays and what not.
However, at least Microsoft has already confirmed that all Windows Phone 8 users will get the 8.1 update when it does become available for their device.
Read more: Windows Phone 8 tips and tricks