Here are the latest whisper dates for Microsoft's Windows Phone 8, Office 2013
Summary: What's the latest scuttlebutt on Microsoft's fall slate of product and services due out this fall? — Follow @maryjofoley — As we've known, or at least suspected, for a while now …
Context & Ripple Effects
The whisper dates land mid-arc for Microsoft's fall push: back in December 2011 an executive promised more multi-platform mobile products in 2012, and two days ago The Verge detailed what Office will look like on Windows Phone 8 — features that only matter if the phone OS actually ships this year.
Timing gives the rumors extra weight. This week Microsoft reported its first-ever quarterly loss — $492M, driven by a $6.19B aQuantive writedown on $18.06B in revenue — while several computer makers filed complaints alleging Windows 8 blocks rival browsers. Mary Jo Foley's fall-date scuttlebutt was picked up by eight outlets including Engadget and The Verge, a sign of how much rides on whether the Windows 8 / Windows Phone 8 / Office 2013 wave lands coherently.
First-order effects
- Hardware partners and carriers building holiday lineups have to plan around unconfirmed fall dates for Windows Phone 8 and Office 2013, since Microsoft has not officially committed to either.
- Windows Phone developers get their strongest signal yet to hold app work for the WP8 SDK rather than shipping against Windows Phone 7.x, given the rumored same-season arrival of both the OS and Office integration.
Second-order effects
- Apple's and Google's established fall device cadence means any slip in the whispered Windows Phone 8 window pushes Microsoft's launch into direct collision with — or irrelevance beside — rivals' holiday flagships.
- PC makers already filing browser-blocking complaints over Windows 8 face a compressed certification window if the rumored dates hold, raising the stakes of their standoff with Microsoft before launch.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Microsoft is moving to synchronized, multi-product release waves — Windows, Windows Phone, and Office landing together — making leak-driven date speculation a substitute for official communication and tying its post-aQuantive recovery narrative to one coordinated bet.
The trend: Microsoft is converging Windows, Windows Phone, and Office into synchronized fall release waves, with unofficial date leaks filling the gap left by the absence of firm launch commitments.