Microsoft has released the Windows Phone App Studio, making it easier than ever for non-programmer types to create Windows Phone 8 apps. It's in open Beta and you can give it a try today.
With the new App Studio, you get to create apps just by selecting a ready-made template or by using a blank canvas, plugging in your content, and publishing. The underlying engine seems to be HTML5 based and our early tests show the studio to be intuitive enough to create a very simple HTML based app in just minutes (see our demo screenshot below).
Being in beta it's difficult to determine how many more features should be added just yet, but I'm anxious to dig more into the studio to see how complex of an app can be built. There are several built in REST API type features available, so we'll be sure and report back in with a more polished app product.