Microsoft’s Windows Phone Summit is just over one week away, and Windows Phone 8 rumors are finally beginning to surface once again. WPCentral claims to have some juicy details about the next major Windows Phone OS, and we’re inclined to believe them even though there was no mention of a source, confidential or otherwise.

We’ve often heard that Skype will be built into Windows Phone 8–codenamed “Apollo”–but Microsoft might actually be taking this a step further by allowing any VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service to deeply integrate itself into the core Windows Phone OS. This means that VOIP calls will operate just like a traditional phone call. It’ll be interesting to see how carriers react to this.

Supposedly, third-party apps will also be able to integrate with Windows Phone’s voice search feature, which is powered by TellMe. This sounds an awful lot like Bing Search on Xbox 360, which lets you find content in all of your apps with a single search. It’s both powerful and intuitive.

Finally, Nokia Maps will reportedly replace Bing Maps on all Windows Phone handsets. It will also include 3D navigation and hardware acceleration. Microsoft and Nokia have already announced that Nokia Maps will be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services,” so this doesn’t surprise us in the slightest.

The rest of the news has already been previously rumored, like Windows Phone Wallet, lens apps, and native code development. As always, keep an eye on our Windows Phone 8 feature list for details on which features have been confirmed, rumored, and debunked. We’ll also be on hand at the Windows Phone Summit next week to give you our full impressions of Windows Phone 8.

[WPCentral via LiveSide.net]