Jessica Alba at today's Microsoft event (Credit: CNET) 
 
 She's been a presence at tech conferences of late, and today Microsoft brought out actor-turned-entrepreneur Jessica Alba to talk up the virtues of Windows Phone 8, which the company is launching at an event in San Francisco. 
 
 Alba was on stage to tout Kid's Corner, Microsoft's new user account of sorts for kids. Kid's Corner, which acts as a second lock screen for kids, lets an adult choose which apps the kids see, which music they can listen to, and which games they can play. Kids can choose their own theme colors, but they can't pin apps to Kid's Corner themselves. If your phone is locked, you just swipe right from the Start screens to get into the Kid's Corner. 
 
 "I think it's awesome," Alba gushed about Kid's Corner. "I love that I can curate the space. It's a very clutch feature. Also I don't need to worry about my kid going into my social-media networks, or e-mailing my partners or anything like that." 
 
 So there you have it: A celebrity mom endorsement for Windows Phone. Alba also spent some time talking about switching to a Windows Phone from the iPhone. Naturally, she then plugged her startup, The Honest Company, which sells baby products such as diapers and wipes, before making her way off stage. 
 
 "This is the best tech crowd I've ever been in front of," she said on her way out. ||||| Joe Belfiore, Steve Ballmer and Jessica Alba at the Windows Phone 8 launch in San Francisco (Credit: James Martin/CNET) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO -- Windows Phone 8, the second pillar in Microsoft's rebirthing of Windows, finally reached escape velocity. A wide variety of Windows smartphones will be shipping soon, entering a market totally dominated by Apple (iOS) and Google (Android). 
 
 Steve Ballmer gave assurances at the launch event at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, named after rock music impresario Bill Graham, that after four years the company finally got Windows Phone right. "People all over the world are about to fall in love with Windows Phone," the Microsoft CEO said. "If you're one of the hundreds of millions of people who will use Windows 8, there is no better phone for you." Actress and entrepreneur Jessica Alba was on stage to endorse Windows Phone 8 and its new Kids Corner feature. It was like watching a few minutes of the QVC shopping channel. 
 
 Hands on: Windows Phone 8 comes of age at last 
 
 Read: Microsoft dishes more Windows Phone 8 goods 
 
 Full coverage: Meet Windows 8 
 
 It was left to Joe Belfiore, manager of Microsoft's Windows Phone team, to articulate how Windows Phone 8 could leapfrog the well-endowed competition. His answer: "Windows Phone 8 "reinvents the smartphone around 'you,' and makes it the most "personal" phone available. 
 
 Live Tiles vs. Icons 
 
 The "you" and "personal' in Windows Phone 8 are most visibly expressed in how Live Tiles, which live on the phone's start screen and can contain real-time information. Users can "pin" Live Tiles of people (their tweets, photos, etc.), song, websites, photos, email, notifications, Facebook and other items to the screen. "You can actually maintain a better relationship with people, because you get a sense of what they're up to at that moment," Belfiore said. 
 
 Windows 8 phones with Live Tiles ready to sell in November (Credit: James Martin/CNET) 
 
 Belfiore also took a few shots at the competition in explaining Microsoft's design differentiation: 
 
 "It's the only phone that has live tiles, for the people you care about and the apps that you use all the time. It's a different story than iOS and Android.," he said. "The iOS 6 home screen is really just a sea of static icons. It's not people; it's not live data. 
 
 "Of course, after five years, they have added one more row of icons. Android home screens typically present a complex maze of icons, widgets, and settings. But, they look a lot like iPhones, too. If you put a bunch of them on a table, it'd be hard to tell your own from the crowd. We felt there was a better way. Windows Phone 8 -- it looks different because we didn't make it for all of us, we made it for each of us." 
 
 But Microsoft is swimming against the tide in requiring users to learn a new way of interacting with their devices. The iPhone and Android devices are icon-driven, but they also have notification services that can provide real-time snapshots. And, it wouldn't be surprising to see "live icons" emanating soon from the Apple and Android camps. 
 
 Belfiore's response: Icon-based interfaces are a "tired, old metaphor," and unable to give users an at-a-glance view of what is happening via their smartphone. "We do it more readily, conveniently and richly," he said. 
 
 With Windows Phone 8 devices getting into customers hands, Microsoft will see how well its Live Tiles fare against the smartphone icons. ||||| Article Excerpt 
 
 Microsoft Corp. officially released an overhaul for its nascent Windows Phone software, in its latest attempt to catch up to Apple Inc. and devices running software from Google Inc. 
 
 The new software, dubbed Windows Phone 8, will include a bevy of new features, including the ability for apps, such as those from Facebook Inc. or Groupon Inc., to display recently posted photos or the latest daily deal on the device's home screen. 
 
 But Microsoft said some of the new Windows 8 phones won't launch until mid-November or later. The timing means that Microsoft could lose out on some sales in ...
– Microsoft officially unveiled Windows Phone 8 yesterday, and it did so with a special celebrity guest: Jessica Alba. Microsoft invited the actress to tout the phone's "Kid's Corner" feature, which allows parents to control what apps kids have access to, touting her as a "great example of the kind of people who we think Windows Phone will appeal to," as a mom and entrepreneur. "This is the best tech crowd I've ever been in front of," Alba said, according to CNET. Alba's presence went along with the overall feel Microsoft was going for, Janet Tu at the Seattle Times observes, namely "fun and cool." "Clearly Microsoft—long associated with work, productivity, and your company's IT department—was trying to reach younger, hip consumers." To that end, here are some of the features the company touted: Steve Ballmer touted it as "the most personal smartphone out there," saying that it "reinvents the smartphone around you." The most notable way it does this: The live tiles that cover the display. Live tiles that don't just open apps, they display realtime data. You can "pin" a live tile of a friend, for instance and see their Facebook or Twitter activity, CNET reports. "The iOS6 home screen is really just a sea of static icons," Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore said. "It's not people; it's not live data." Microsoft also boasted about its growing apps catalog, which it says now contains 120,000 programs, the Wall Street Journal reports—while noting that it's a far cry from the 700,000 or so Android and iOS apps. They also touted the tight integration between Windows Phone and Microsoft's other products. "If you're one of the hundreds of millions of people who will use Windows 8, there is no better phone for you," Steve Ballmer said. Initial phones will include the HTC Windows Phone 8X, and the Nokia Lumia. Versions of both will be available from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, for prices ranging from $99.99 to $199.99.