We’ve gotten to hear about a lot of exciting new products and announcements this week at CES, and now that the hubbub is slowly dying down we have some time to analyze some of the insight we’ve gained regarding new products and future plans for some companies. One that particularly stands out to me is that Sprint finally announced that they will start releasing Windows Phone 8 devices this summer, which is an announcement that I’ve been waiting a long time for.

I’ve mentioned in several previous articles that since Windows Phone replaced the old Windows Mobile platform, Sprint has been coming up short, to say the least, when it comes to offering a decent variety of Windows Phone devices. While they at least had three or four Windows Mobile devices available for purchase, they only ever had one Windows Phone 7 for sale; just one lonely WP7 device – the HTC Arrive. With only one device to offer, you’re probably not going to have a whole stampede of people running through that door to get one, especially a device running on an OS that has a lackluster market and a quickly outdated piece of hardware.

Ryan Sullivan, Sprint’s director of device delivery, claims that the new Windows Phone devices will “be current” and insinuates that there will be more than one device that they have planned for launch.

"We're working for current product launches, and not necessarily to launch on six-month-old hardware." Sullivan claims.

This is good news. While the Nokia Lumia 920 still seems to be the star of the show regarding Windows Phone 8, it’s not likely something that many people will be willing to get excited for all over again just because it would be available on another carrier – it is certainly no iPhone or Galaxy device.  However, bringing something completely new – hardware and platform – to Sprint would be something that current and prospective customers alike can get excited about.

This in itself really changes things up for me. I’ve talked about how I’d really like to try a Windows Phone 8 device for a while, and while I didn’t want to necessarily switch carriers in order to obtain one, it now looks like I won’t have to. Sprint announced that they plan on releasing these devices sometime by summer, and guess who has two thumbs and an upgrade coming up in July? That’s right; this girl! However, I’ve decided not to jump the gun so quickly. While the devices are said to be updated, you never know what that might mean. Does it mean it will be updated hardware as of when they started producing the phones, or updated hardware as in they were looking towards the future when they started production? Because I’d really like to see a 13-megapixel camera on my next phone if I can. You know. No pressure or anything.

But enough about me; just because I’m interested in a Windows Phone 8 doesn’t mean everybody else is. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever really heard anybody around here say they’re just dying to get their hands on a Windows Phone 8 device…

Yep, pretty sure I’m the only one.

But I also live in a house with no windows or doors and therefore I have limited contact with the world, so I’m going to need your guys’ opinions to help me out. What do you think about Sprint releasing a line of Windows Phone 8 devices? Do you think it’s a little too late for them to gain a following, or is this what Microsoft needs to do in order to boost sales of their latest mobile platform? After all, carrier exclusives seem to only limit the potential that many companies could have. Let me hear your thoughts in the comments below!