India

Microsoft Store India has come under attack by hackers raiding under the banner of 'Evil Shadow Team', WPSauce has reported. The website was defaced yesterday with the above image replacing access, which was achieved by redirecting visitors to a file the team uploaded -- evil.html. The message is clear from the attack: "Unsafe system will be baptized."

For now the website is offline, presumably while Microsoft investigates what exactly went wrong and suggesting the software giant has regained control.

"The Microsoft Store India is currently unavailable. Microsoft is working to restore access as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."

Customers of the online store have been strongly urged to change their passwords once the site comes back online as Quasar Media, the online marketing agency that maintains the website, decided it would be a great idea to store user credentials and personal information in plain text - an obvious insecure practice.

While one could argue that it's in the interest of the customers to know that their details are not being stored securely, another could counter with stating that the attack, which has no known motive, was not required. 

Source: WPSauce, Hackteach, thanks for all the tips that were sent in!

Now that the Lumia 800 is going big world wide, including India (see earlier "flash mob"), we can see the fruits of their advertising campaign. Evidently, Jet Airways had made a deal with Nokia to paint their plans with the Lumia colors and Nokia banner.

Not a bad look, if we say so ourselves.

Once again, we can see the power of Nokia to turn heads and get their hardware noticed. We can't see what they have in store for the States.

Source: ZOMGITSCJ

The Samsung Omnia W is one step closer to becoming the first second generation Windows Phone in India. The 3.7" Super AMOLED Windows Phone is available for pre-order through Flipkart.com.

The Omnia W is priced at Rs 20,900 (about $395 US) and sports a 5mp rear camera, front facing VGA camera, 1.4ghz processor and 8gb of storage.  The estimated release/ship date is the 4th week of December.

source: Flipkart Thanks goes out to Kumar for the tip!

Nokia has announced that both of their new Lumia handsets, the 710 and the 800, will be coming to India.  Though no specific date was given, they did say that both should be available come mid-December.  Details were also scarce on how much each device would run or which carriers would offer them.  Vodaphone is taking orders for the Lumia 800 in the UK, so it wouldn't be crazy to think they will be game to offer the same in India as well. 

Both the 710 and 800 are pretty comparable, with 1.4GHz processors, 512MB RAM, and run Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) on 3.7" AMOLED screens.  However, the Lumia 800 trumps the 710's 8GB storage and 5MP camera with its own 16GB and 8MP Carl Zeiss camera, while the more playful 710 has interchangeable back plates of varying colors.

Source: IBNLive (Thanks for the tip, Vedavyas!); Photo: FoneArena

The HTC Radar, recently launched in India along with the Samsung Omnia W and Acer Allegro, is now available to order online at both Flipkart and LetsBuy. The second generation Mango handset will set the buyer back by Rs. 23,990 ($500). The handset sports a 3.8 screen with a 1Ghz processor.

See earlier coverage of the Radar for more information.

Source: Flipkart, LetsBuy, thanks Rohit for the heads up!

The Windows Phone team has published some exciting news for both China and India. With India finally getting some handsets being made available this month (the HTC Radar, Samsung Omnia W and Acer Allegro), owners of these devices will be able to purchase and download apps from the Marketplace. Speaking of the Marketplace, improved search has been introduced with developers being able to tie up to five keywords per app or game to increase reach in searches.

China unfortunately still has no Marketplace, but now has App Hub coverage for developers who reside in the country to put their talent to good use with submitting games and apps to the Marketplace. For those who are still awaiting App Hub availability, remember that Microsoft has the Global Publisher Program that will be able to help.

Source: Windows Phone Developer Blog

We reported a few days ago that Microsoft India was set to officially launch Windows Phone there and sure enough, that day has come.

Over at the site I Love Windows Phone, Abhishek Baxi live blogged the event where all the details were revealed. The first device to launch there will be the HTC Radar, which will fetch for Rs 23,990, followed by the Samsung Omnia W  (Rs 19,900) and Acer Allegro in November, all with Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" on board.. Not bad for a launch selection at all, but no word on Nokia at this time.

In addition, two localized apps were shown off: Times of India and SnapDeal, which should make some folks happy to have those on board.

App images courtesy of I Love Windows Phone

Dell has been completely MIA from the Mango-madness of the last few months. It all started back in May when Microsoft started leaving Dell off of any list of OEMs who are developing Windows Phones. Speculation at the time suggested that Dell had dropped out of the smartphone biz and were withdrawing and Windows Phone plan. Some of this became evident when the price of an unlocked Venue Pro dropped to $300 and AT&T seemed to have put the phone on the back, back burner.

Now, for what it's worth, which may not be much. the Dell Wrigley appears to be coming to Inida soon, listed on the sites Mobile Dekho, My India Guide and featured in a brief overview on the site Idea Marketers. The device is listed as having an 8MP camera, 4" screen and features TDMA, CDMA and GSM support. Price is listed at about Rs. 30,000 (~$600).

This exact same device with similar specs did show up on our leaked Dell road-map, lending some credence to the idea. Still, we have to ask, Dell...where are you? While the Venue Pro had a rough start, it turned out to be a solid Windows Phone and we sure hope to see more from Dell in 2011 and 2012. On the other hand, this could be an erroneous listing, so we'll just have to remain skeptical for a bit.

Thanks, Jc_Agga, for the tip!