Test Windows Phone 8 App on actual device

Question

Is it possible to test my windows phone 8 app on an actual device, like Nokia Lumia 820 (NOT Simulator) before submitting to store? How?

(Also I may need to create some applications just for myself, and not for sending to store... :) )

Update: I saw that developers should pay for developer account to install their apps on their phones, but What about WP8?

Answer 1

You can test your app on any real device, you just need to have developer account to unlock your phone or phones for debugging.
It costs 99$ per year per developer, or you can get it for free if you are student using DreamSpark, or BizSpark, or you have MSDN or TechNet subscription.
How to register your phone for development
Once you have developer account, just start the Windows Phone Developer Registration tool, attach your phone to PC, unlock it and then you can select the Device in your project for debugging.

Answer 2

You can now register one phone without a developer account, as you can see in the prerequisites of registering a phone:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/ff769508%28v=vs.105%29.aspx

You only need to have a Microsoft account (not a developer account), to which you can register the phone you want to test on. Microsoft also changed the limitations on how many phones you can register with that developer account: they are only three by now. I did not find an official statement on these changes, but they must have been taken quite recently...

After you downloaded the WP 8 SDK from the Microsoft Download Center, go to "All Apps" on your computer and choose "Windows Phone Developer Registration".