Microsoft has all guns blazing in preparation for its Windows Phone 8 launch. According to a ZDNet report, reliable sources have divulged that the Redmond-based company intends to host an Oct.29 event to announce its highly-anticipated Windows Phone 8, after the launch of its tablet-centric OS Windows 8 on Oct. 26.

"A source of mine privy to Microsoft's event plans, who asked not to be named, just shared with me dates and tentative locations for a number of Microsoft's upcoming launches. Some of these we suspected; a few we knew," said ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley.

Previously, reports have indicated that Microsoft's next-gen mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8, would launch in November and not alongside Windows 8 in October.

The report also suggests that since Microsoft revealed the Surface tablet in Los Angeles, it would likely use the same venue for Windows Phone 8. After the announcement is made, handsets will allegedly be made available one to two weeks later, in early November, meaning that consumers can probably expect devices from Samsung and Nokia to arrive soon after.

"October 29 will be the official "launch" of Windows Phone 8, I am told. I'm hearing this event will likely be on the west coast, either in San Francisco or Los Angeles. (Again, I don't know exactly where. A photo studio? Outside an Apple store?) But this is considered the "consumer launch" of the product, with handsets to be made available starting a week or two later, meaning early November, as other sources of mine had indicated," noted Foley.

Major smartphone players like Nokia, HTC, and Samsung are expected to employ the Windows Phone 8 OS.

With two colossal launches in less than a week, Microsoft, it seems, is making a habit of back-to-back launches. In June 2012, Microsoft employed the same marketing manoeuvre when announcing its Surface tablets and Windows Phone 8 platform.

October is an action-packed week for Microsoft enthusiasts with several spiffy devices readying for a roll out. The sequence of events is as follows:

• October 25: New York City launch event where Microsoft's Windows 8 (desktop) and Surface RT (tablet) will be unveiled.
• October 26: Both Windows 8 and the Surface RT ARM-based products will hit the shelves.
• October 29: Expected Window Phone 8 roll out at a either Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Microsoft remained mum on the matter and declined to comment. Experts, however, opine that the conjectured date may have a grain of truth in it, considering that it follows close on the heels of the Windows 8 tablet and desktop version releases.