Windows Phone 8

Once news got out that Apple would be holding an iPhone event on September 12, every competitor and their platform partner scrambled to announce events ahead of time. Mostly. The first was Nokia's Windows Phone event this morning, which showed off the new flagship Nokia Lumia 920 with a brief nod to the mode budget-friendly Nokia Lumia 820. Daniel Rubino from our Mobile Nations sibling site, WPCentral was there live to catch all the actions.

When Apple announced iOS 6 at WWDC 2012 and showed off its 10 new tent pole features, the response was... mixed. Some were delighted by the new maps app and the Siri enhancements, thrilled with Facebook integration and Safari image uploads, and intrigued by the potential of Passbook. Others saw iOS 6 as more tock than tick, a minor point release rather than a major new OS version, inattentive to power-user problems, and a sign that Apple was slowing down.

With Google releasing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Microsoft readying Windows Phone 8, HP trudging towards open webOS, and RIM scrambling to get BlackBerry 10 done and shipped, the competitive landscape has never been hotter.

So, just like we examined the evolution of the App Store in a competitive context, let's compare iOS 6 to previous iPhone and iPad software previews, and to what the likes of Google, RIM, and Microsoft have shown off to date.

It's a public holiday in Montreal and the rest of Quebec -- St. John the Baptiste day or National Day, which is basically a provincial version of Canada Day or Independence Day. As with any summer holiday, I care only so much as it means barbecue and beverages, and I have an excuse to keep tonight's column brief. Ish.