For those of you running Microsoft’s newest version of Windows OS, Windows 8, listen up because this will surely interest you.  One of the biggest complaints from users of Windows 8 is the fact the new metro and RT Windows apps always run in fullscreen mode and not in the desktop mode.  This makes it difficult for users who have don’t have a touch laptop or tablet.  While Metro does work with non-touch setups even in fullscreen, we are creatures of habit and getting used to Windows 8 has been difficult for some.  Stardock has created a program to allow us to continue our multi-window multi-tasking ways, called ModernMix.

With Stardock’s Windows 8 ModernMix app, you are able to run all those metro apps in desktop mode.  This allows you to resize them, move them around and multi-task with them, rather than being forced to use them exclusively in fullscreen mode.   See the video below for the app in action.  Stardock has been developing this for sometime and has just this week released a beta version for the public, for you to try.  You can get the app directly from the Stardock website for only $4.99, much cheaper than a Windows downgrade.

This is an app that I’m sure will be flying off the virtual shelf, I have already downloaded it myself.  Do you plan to get it?  If you already have it, what do you think?

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This means having a full-staff ready to go during the holidays, which will make it easier for developers to keep those apps coming. Microsoft also advised that they would aim to maintain the certification processing turnarounds for their developers throughout this busy time.

Microsoft might be keeping the same level of staff going, but the application submission process time will still be 5 business days, excluding December 24th, 25th and January 1st. So Microsoft is asking submissions be made by December 17th in order to be released by new years.

Apparently, Windows Store staff won’t have to worry about the longer work schedules, though. Microsoft announced they would have a significantly reduced staff of store certifiers between December 22nd and New Year’s day for Windows 8 and RT.

Do you think these crazy numbers of submissions will be sustained through the new year?

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The post Microsoft Application Submissions up 40% appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

We know Apple has a strangle hold on which apps make it to the App Store. That’s why Google is preferred by many developers since their apps have more of chance to see the light of day on Android Market. But this freedom appears to have helped malware makers as well. According to Symantec, millions of Android devices have been infected by malicious chunks of code called Android.Counterclank.

Calling it the largest Android malware infection ever, Security software vendor Symantec has discovered 13 apps from three developers (iApps7, Ogre Games and redmicapps) which are carrying the Android.Counterclank spyware which is technically a trojan and is a minor modification of Android.Tonclank. Some of these apps have been available on Android Market for at least a month.

The malware is capable of receiving remote commands without your knowledge and can steal information from your device. According to Symantec, it has infected between 1 million and 5 million Android devices so far.

The list of apps (posted below) which carry the bug includes games such as Counter Elite Force and CounterStrike Hit Enemy, and naughty titles such as Pretty women lingerie puzzle.

If you have a doubt whether an application, which is not in the above list, is infected with the trojan, you can check by seeing whether a service with the same name is running at once when you open the app. It can also be detected by looking for an added Search icon above your home screen. According to one user who installed Deal & Be Millionaire, “the game is decent … but every time you run this game, a search icon gets added randomly to one of your screens. I keep deleting the icon, but it always reappears. If you tap the icon you get a page that looks suspiciously like the Google search page“.

If there is an infected app on your device, we encourage you to uninstall it and/or reboot your device entirely back to stock.

Some of the malicious apps have already been removed from the Android Market but we are waiting for an official comment from Google.  In the meantime, we have contacted the developers for a response.

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