Microsoft drops Geotrust verification for individuals and students

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Microsoft has removed one rather annoying barrier to registering for a Windows Phone 7 developer.

Part of getting registered was getting your identity verified by GeoTrust, something which was not even possible in many countries. Now this requirement has been dropped.

On App Hub it says:

Close to 10% of Android Apps festering pits of spyware, worms and premium SMS senders, getting worse

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We all know Android Market is increasingly afflicted by malware, but I do not think any of us has thought is was as bad as this.

According to security firm named Dasient, of the 10,000 Android apps they studied, 800 or 8% turned out to be malware, engaging in activities such as stealing data, e.g email account passwords, sending premium SMS messages, trying to spread to users in one’s contact list by sending SMS messages with links to your friends, and even stealing IMEI and IMSI numbers, allowing for the mass cloning of a user’s phone.

Developers: Add Support For Peer-to-Peer Multiplayer Gaming In Windows Phone Mango

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One of the neat feature coming to Windows Phone Mango for developers is the support for accessing TCP and UDP Sockets. This will enable game developers to enable their games for multipalyer gaming. From Channel 9,

One of the new features for the app platform in Windows Phone Mango is TCP and UDP Sockets. In this blog post, I’ll talk about using this to augment an existing game to add peer-to-peer multiplayer over WiFi using UdpAnySourceMulticastClient. Phones running the game on the same WiFi network automatically discover one another and the players just appear on the screen.

LG Fantasy leaked

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LG's fall roadmap has been leaked and while it mainly deals with Android devices, there is one lone Windows Phone listed. The LG Fantasy is being reported as a Mango device and looks a lot like the HTC HD7.

No specs were available with the listing but strong speculation is for a fourth quarter release. LG already has the side-keyboard Quantum in their Windows Phone lineup so a slab phone would help expand the companies Windows Phone offerings.

Devs Can Submit Windows Phone Mango Apps In One Month's Time

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Windows Phone Mango is the first major update to Redmond's OS and it will try to close the gap between the mobile platform and competitors like Apple's iOS and Google's Android. It should be out soon and as such, Microsoft announced that it will accept app submissions in a month's time.

"We’re just about a month away from enabling developers to begin submitting Mango apps to App Hub" says Todd Brix in its Windows Phone Developer Blog post. Apps submitted will be created with the aid of the Windows Phone Release Candidate (RC) tools that Redmond plans to make available in late August. That aside, there are some interesting bits related to the new App Hub functionality and geographic expansion so head over to the source link and take a look.

Optimus 7, Omnia 7, Mozart Getting WP7 Device-Specific Updates

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Early this morning, we told you about how the Samsung Focus was finally getting all its software brought up-to-date, with the release of pre-NoDo, NoDo, and the subsequent security patch for version 1.4 of its hardware. At the time, Microsoft also mentioned some other phone-specific updates that were in the works, but didn't have much in the way of details to share. Now we've learned a little more about what models can expect to see new code on the way.

ChevronWP7 Labs to unlock your Windows Phone 7 handset for $9, hackers not welcome

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Need a little extra unlocked WP7 incentive to keep you from buying those oh-so-distracting iOS and Android devices? Well, that official homebrew love is going to cost you -- $9 to be exact. We already knew the Microsoft-sanctioned ChevronWP7 Labs would be open for business soon, but recent tweets from the jailbreaking outfit's Chris Walsh have shed a little more light on the process. In addition to the nominal fee users will have to fork over for the official unlock, Walsh also points out that software updates to Mango and Nodo will close any security holes in the platform.

The Guy In Charge of the People Hub

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The Windows Phone Youtube channel recently posted a cool video interview of Greg, the product manager in charge of the People Hub for Windows Phone 7. In Greg's video you'll get to hear a little bit about him as well as some thoughts and features that went into the People Hub experience for Windows Phone's forthcoming "Mango" update. For example, things like the pinning a live tile of a person to a start screen lets you keep in touch with them better by having an animated status update or recent photo load. Then there are people groups that you can also pin to the start menu in order to keep track of a whole group of people. The contact history feature is also mentioned as a new way to keep track of all sorts of communications you might have had with a specific person.

Rumor: Nokia spending $127M marketing Windows Phone

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It's said you have to spend money to make money. If this latest rumor is true, Nokia will be betting on a $127 million dollar marketing budget to help sell Nokia-made Windows Phones, according to Marketing Magazine.

The Finnish device manufacturer's six-month campaign set to launch in October would rebrand the company as primarily a maker of Windows, rather than Symbian and MeeGo, phones, according to the report. The timing would also coincide with the release of Nokia's first device for Microsoft's OS--likely this fall, and likely the handset known as Sea Ray.

Google+ destined for iOS, WP7 on the horizon?

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The search giant is pushing forward with its latest social media product (anyone remember the rise and sudden fall of Buzz?) called Google+ and beta testing has been well underway with invites being rolled out. TechRadar reports that Google has confirmed that an iOS app will be hitting the App Store in the closing future which will feature native support. Question is, will they support Windows Phone 7?

Google+ is seen as the potential Facebook Killer and has a lot of hype to live up to according to the social media sphere. Since we already have Facebook and soon-to-be Twitter integration, I think Google+ could be a worthwhile addition. If we look at the current Google presence on WP7, its nothing to be proud of. Users of docs, calendar, GMail, GTalk and other services have to switch between apps and there's no fluidity.