Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer joined HTC CEO Peter Chou on stage at today’s big HTC announcement to showcase HTC’s new lineup of Windows Phone smartphones.

HTC will be releasing two new Windows Phone 8 smartphones this November, the Windows Phone 8S and the Windows Phone 8X. The devices will be available in the U.S. through AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Ballmer, during the announcement, commented that the “Windows Phone” branding was very clear. It will be interesting to see if Nokia will have any rebuttal to such comments.

The Windows Phone 8S will have a four-inch screen and a 1GHz dual-core S4 processor. Also, it comes with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. The back-facing camera is 5MP, but there is no front-facing camera. In addition, HTC is still riding its agreement with Beats, including Beats Audio on the device.

The Windows Phone 8X is HTC’s flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone. The device will have a 4.3-inch, 720p LCD 2 screen, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage. It will also have support for NFC technology and include Beats Audio. The back camera is 8MP and a 2.1MP front-facing camera.

Much of the announcement was spent commenting on the design of the new devices. HTC emphasized how thin and light the 8S and 8X are. A video during the announcement showed that the Windows Phone 8X has curved glass that extends to the back of the device.

(Photo courtesy The Verge)