14 DAY TRIAL // Starting today, application developers around the world will be able to download and install the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system on their devices, although only in a Developer Preview iteration.
The platform has been long rumored to arrive starting today, and some more confirmation on the matter is now available, courtesy of a leaked, yet unpublished post on Microsoft’s official blog.
Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore has already said that the OS preview will arrive early this week, but said blog post, which is set to go online in a few hours, confirms that April 14 is indeed the big day, as WMPoweruser notes.
“Starting today, you can update your personal dev phone(s) to run Windows Phone 8.1 using the Windows Phone Preview for Developers program,” Microsoft explains in the aforementioned post.
“Along with the tooling delivered in Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 RC, developers can now get everything they need to start building and testing Windows Phone apps...”
Developers won’t be the only ones to receive access to the Windows Phone 8.1 preview build, though all those who are interested in grabbing it will need to register for a developer account on Microsoft’s portal for that.
The new platform iteration will become available for download via the Preview for Developers application, which can be found on the Windows Phone Store today.
Update: The Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview is now live. We also have a guide on how to download and install it today.