Microsoft offers free Windows Phones to people who moan about Android on Twitter



Users who complain about Android viruses win phones

Comes as wave of viruses disguised as games hits Android market





Ben Rudolph, an official Microsoft Windows phone evangelist, offered to 'upgrade' Android users to a Windows phone if they complained about bad experiences with Android malware

Microsoft's Windows Phone Evangelist has made a surprising offer - free Windows Phone handsets for people who complain publicly about Android on Twitter.

Ben Rudolph, who Tweets as BenThePCGuy, said, 'Share your android malware story (there's lots going around) and you could win a Windows Phone upgrade.'

The Tweet was retweeted by an official Microsoft Twitter account, and Rudolph is a prolific Twitterer for the company, so the offer appears to be genuine.



What wasn't clear was how many phones were on offer, and what exact models.

Tech sites such as Electric Pig were quick to speculate that Nokia's glamorous new Lumia 800 handset would be the phone Microsoft would send out.

Users swiftly duly in with complaints about brand-new phones deleting content.

The hashtag suggested by Rudolph - #droidrage - failed to become a trending topic on Twitter, however.

Some users also joked about the whole idea, 'The worst thing about Android is the jealousy that it creates with Microsoft lovers and Micrsoft evangelists without a pint of decency.'



The Tweet came a day after a new plague of Android malware hit Google's Android Market - this time, with viruses 'posing' as popular games such as Angry Birds and Need for Speed.

The latest round of malicious software to attack Android market came disguised as popular games such as Angry Birds - the virus makers simply copied the descriptions of the games, and posted an identical one in the market. Some were downloaded 10,000 times

The malware makers had copied and pasted the descriptions for the real games, and some of the malicious 'games' were downloaded more than 10,000 times before Google deleted them from Android Market.

Unlike Apple, Google doesn't 'police' which apps can be released through its app marketplace - anyone can add anything, which has led to a huge increase in malicious software attacks on Android phones in recent months.



Research company Juniper Research said that malicious software attacks had risen 472 per cent in just four months.

