WP7 Developers: Final Tools Coming, Get Ready for Launch

"August marks the six-month anniversary of the public unveiling of our next-generation mobile phone, Windows Phone 7. Six months is an interesting bit of time; it can fly by, or it can feel like it's dragging on forever. The gating factor tends to be how much fun you are having. For us on the Windows Phone team, it feels like just yesterday that we first introduced Windows Phone 7 to the world. Now, just a blink of the eye and phones will be on shelves. All of the work of the last six months is certainly paying off, as just about every conversation we have with developers focuses on their strategy for generating more business with Windows Phone 7. It's amazing to see so many inspired developers looking to create experiences for Windows Phone 7. In fact, to date there have been north of 300,000 downloads of the Windows Phone Developer Tools."

Lots of interesting points in Brandon Watson's latest blog piece, here's the basics:

• 300,000 downloads of the WP 7 Developer tools... wow!
• Final tools drop on Sept. 16
• Marketplace starts taking submissions (e.g., opens) in early October!
• Marketplace policies have been updated in preparation.

An exciting time to be a Windows Phone Developer!