Hacker aims to bring fake Xbox LIVE Gold membership to Windows Phone handsets

This isn’t out yet, but if it does make it into the public space, and manages to deliver on what its creator intends, Microsoft is about to have an egg on its face.

A new homebrew app, being constructed by the somewhat infamous hacker Jaxbot, intends to, in the words of 1800PocketPC, “allow users to apply a lot of custom registry hacks to their Windows Phone devices with a few clicks instead of messing around with a registry editor.” That’s means lots of power in the hands of those who may not have been able to execute a more technical process.

So, what can this homebrew app do that might ding Microsoft and ruffle some feathers? The developer claims that he can simulate Xbox LIVE Gold status in phones, giving users privellages that only real Gold members have access to. Among other things, messaging would be functional for non-Gold members, which is usually not allowed.

Here’s the teaser screenshot that Jaxbot put out:

There’s another ripple to all of this, that Microsoft in fact has fostered homebrew development on its platform, which will lead to this hack being more useful than it otherwise might have been. Microsoft, in a bid to mollify and attract developers, teamed up with a group of community leaders and helped launch an unlocking tool for Windows Phone.

That led to a pile of handsets being set free for homebrew development. And now someone is planning on spoofing one of Microsoft’s cash cows. Let’s see how this shakes out.