angry birds

Natural Angry Birds full of feathery fury

You may have noticed a distinct lack of Angry Birds in your Audubon guide. Fortunately, artist Mohamed Raoof has you covered with a series of naturalized Angry Birds digital portraits.

Some of the feathery subjects look like something you might spot hanging out on the bird feeder in your back yard this winter. So cute.… Read more

Angry Birds make noise with iPhone, iPad speakers

A new series of Angry Birds iPhone/iPod/iPad speaker docks is winging its way over from accessories maker Gear4.

The units feature a red Angry Bird ($79.99), an explosive black Angry Bird ($99.99), or an evil helmet-wearing pig ($99.99). Each includes a 2.1 speaker, power adaptor, 3.5 mm line-in cable, and 3.5 mm port. Though Gear4 is hyping the products' release now, they're not available just yet as "coming soon..." is splashed across the Gear4 Web site.

We've already seen Angry Birds plush toys, T-shirts, bras, Halloween costumes, stickers, and amusement park attractions, to name just a handful of tie-ins to the Rovio game.

These new Gear4 speakers might be excellent products, but the onslaught of Angry Birds gear is starting to give the popular game that Disney/Star Wars/Mario Brothers uber-merchandised feel. Kind of makes you wonder how far away Mighty Eagle Condoms might be.… Read more

Angry Birds Halloween getups so cool it's spooky

The Angry Birds perpetual merchandising machine keeps right on rolling toward All Hallow's Eve.

By now, the never-ending battle between egg-addicted swine and those vengeful, victimized avian avatars is certainly a more well-known feud than the respective tiffs between the Montagues and Capulets, the Hatfields and the McCoys, or even the North and the South.

So, having eclipsed such centuries-old cultural touchstones, it's probably about time we started dressing our kids up like chubby green pigs and pissed-off birds and sending them over to the neighbors' place to beg for corn syrup in all its assorted forms. Who's with me?… Read more

Angry Birds to fly into Starbucks?

Rovio is closing in on a deal with Starbucks that will bring the company's famed franchise, Angry Birds, into the coffee shops.

According to an interview Bloomberg conducted with Rovio Senior Vice President Wibe Wagemans, the Angry Birds maker could soon bring electronic leader boards to Starbucks stores to promote top-scoring players. In addition, the companies will offer Starbucks customers exclusive in-store promotions, including virtual goods.

"It's tying in the real world with the virtual world," Wagemans told Bloomberg. "Retailers get new customers who've not been to their stores yet, and repeat customers."… Read more

Bump hits 50 million downloads

Bump, the iOS and Android application that allows people to quickly share contact information by bumping smartphones together, has been downloaded 50 million times, its developer said today.

But while the contact information sharing feature of Bump is the most well-known, its 10 million active users--who, its developer said, have made the app the seventh most popular free iOS app of all time--have access to a group of other features as well. And Bump Technologies today released a set of numbers about how the application has been used.

One thing that users can do with the app is share songs … Read more

What's next for Angry Birds publisher Rovio?

SAN FRANCISCO--At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference here today, Angry Birds publisher Rovio's new general manager of North America danced around the big question on Rovio's future growth. That question: What can Rovio do other than extend on Angry Birds?

During an onstage interview, Andrew Stalbow kept bringing the discussion back to the success of Angry Birds itself, and all its offshoots. He rattled off impressive stats: Angry Birds games get 300 million minutes of gameplay a day, and the company is selling a million T-shirts and a million plush toys a month.

But what's next for Rovio? &… Read more

The 404 900: Where we have sweet dreams of rhythm and dancing (podcast)

Mark Licea transports us back to the '90s on today's 404 Podcast, which also happens to be our 900th episode! How appropriate that the penultimate episode would also fall on Jonathan Taylor Thomas' 30th birthday.

The '90s theme rolls through the show as Mark sings today's "Tang That Tune" music trivia segment, and we'll also reveal details about Nike's Back to the Future sneaker, as well as Rolling Stone's ranking of the worst songs of the '90s. We have a few selections of our own to add!

Finally, we spend a minute talking about a clever algorithm that helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial wall. The memorial planners hired a local media design firm to develop a network of names organized by interpersonal relationships.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The 404 Digest for Episode 900

An algorithm helped arrange the names on the 9/11 memorial. 9/11 memorial guide. No power laces = 100% fail; back to the best shoe Nike never made. Rolling Stone ranks the worst songs of the '90s. This matters: JTT reunites with "Home Improvement" cast to celebrate 30th birthday. Justin's Daily Bathroom Entertainment: dog loop.

Episode 900 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Angry Birds theme park game may not anger Rovio

It looks like Angry Birds developer Rovio is thinking, "If you can't beat 'em (by firing one of those toucan-beaked boomerang birds at them in court), join 'em.

It's not a big scoop that Angry Birds is already an international phenomenon complete with multiple sequels and lots of merchandise.

When reports circulated that the Window of the World theme game in Changsha, China, launched a real-life version of the game this month, legal action from Rovio seemed inevitable.

However, rather than sending an exploding black ball of feathers into Beijing, Rovio is reportedly looking to partner with the theme park to make the attraction legal--as long as everyone involved can get their beaks wet. … Read more

Angry Bunnies

Bunny Shooter is an Angry Birds-style game that pits you against a pack of malicious bunnies trying to steal your prized carrots. Armed with a bow and a set of arrows, your job is to wipe the smiles off of those smug bunnies' faces.

Swipe your finger across your bow's string to load it up, then rotate the bow to change your arrow's trajectory. Sometimes you can shoot a bunny straight away, but in many cases, you'll have to bank your arrow off of obstacles or cause chain reactions to destroy the bunnies. Similar to Angry Birds, … Read more