Microsoft releases Windows apps for April Fool's

Who says owners of Windows Phones or devices running Windows 8 have to be left out of the fun on April Fools' Day this coming Monday? Microsoft has rolled out a collection of apps - most of them free - for April 1, allowing owners of devices running Windows Phone and Windows 8 to play pranks or simply have fun. One of the apps, Fake It - the only paid app, available for Windows Phone at $0.99 - allows a user to play pranks on family and friends all day, with gags like Broken Phone, Cracked Screen, Fake call, Shotgun, Geiger Counter, High Pitch, Police, and Scream. The others, all free, include:

• MyTextTwister, for Windows 8 and Windows Phone: lets a user create text effects and cool ASCII art. "Make holiday greetings, play a prank on friend or just send cute, funny or crazy messages to your friends. In short, have lots of fun with ⓉⒺⓍⓉ!" Microsoft said.

• 9Gag Viewer for Windows 8, 9Gag.com for Windows Phone: allows users to view gags, pranks and jokes from the 9Gag universe.

• Wikipedia for Windows 8 and Windows Phone: allows a user to look up entries in the open-source online encyclopedia, "to double check facts instantly and avoid falling for the many untruths you’re sure to hear on April 1st."

• PhotoFunia, for Windows 8 and Windows Phone: a cloud-based photo editing tool that can also automatically identify the face in the photo and lets a user add cool photo effects and create funny face photo montages.

• Sound FX, for Windows 8: a collection of 30 high-quality sounds including various animals, sirens, explosions, laugh tracks and applause. "Essential for any prankster!"

• Fun Sounds, for Windows Phone: 120-plus sound effects and the ability to record a user's own sounds that can be played through various shortcuts, "such as when you shake the phone."

• The Lie Detector, for Windows Phone: simulates a finger print scanner with scanning animations, and determines whether the person is lying or not. Of course, it's fake, and the user can control the results by tilting the phone to the left or right.