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Angry Birds Rio hits Apple and Amazon app stores

The next installment of Angry Birds has hit the Apple App Store and immediately has risen to the top of the charts for both the iPhone and iPad. The Android version is free today in the just-launched Amazon Appstore for Android.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
  • Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
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David Carnoy

In case you haven't already looked at the top products list on your iPhone or iPad today and noticed that a new Angry Birds is now available, we're giving you the heads up.

Angry Birds Rio is 99 cents on the iPhone, $2.99 on the iPad, and is free today as part Amazon's Appstore for Android launch (Amazon scored the Angry Birds Android launch exclusive). You have to download the Amazon Appstore app to your Android phone to download the game. (Click the "Get app" link on Amazon's site and follow the directions.)

This version of Angry Birds is actually a licensed game that's a tie-in to the upcoming "Rio" animated movie, which hits theaters April 15.

The movie's plot involves some kidnapped birds trying to escape their captors, so thematically the game and movie work well together. But after this, it wouldn't surprise us to see more Angry Birds movie tie-ins that are more of a stretch.

Is the new Angry Birds better than the previous versions? Well, the game looks better, with much more detailed backgrounds, but some players claim it's not quite as challenging as they'd hoped.