Birds

T-Mobile puts on life-size Angry Birds show

If you're wondering what the possible Angry Birds movie might look like, T-Mobile has put together a life-size version of the hit game with projectile birdies, explosions, and all.

In the T-Mobile promo below, players walk up to a booth, pick up a smartphone, and play the game while a real-life replica recreates the action.

The ad is carefully scripted and incorporates computer effects, but it gives you an idea of what Angry Birds might be like in the real world. It's easier than playing with the board game and plush toys.

The shooting apparently took place in Terrassa near Barcelona; you can see how they did it in a behind-the-scenes video here.

I would have liked to see real catapults, but I'm glad they didn't use real birds and pigs. … Read more

Up next: Angry Birds, the cookbook and movie

LONDON--When you sell Angry Birds, the casual game that's spread like wildfire from the iPhone to Android to Windows to the Web, what do you do for an encore?

You expand beyond games--as far afield as books and movies. At least that's the plan detailed by Peter Vesterbacka, whose title as leader of Rovio Mobile is "mighty eagle," the name of the game's all-powerful pig-blitzing character.

First came Angry Birds stuffed toys and T-shirts. They've been successful for the company, with 3 million toys and more than 1 million shirts sold so far, Vesterbacka … Read more

Roku partners with Rovio for Angry Birds

Roku has inked a deal with Angry Birds creator Rovio to bring the company's video games to its set-top boxes.

The companies have entered into a "strategic partnership" that will see Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, and Angry Birds Rio come to Roku's Channel Store, Roku said late yesterday. An Angry Birds video channel with game-themed animated shorts, as well as a marketplace to buy game-related merchandise, will also be available in the Channel Store.

However, a Roku representative confirmed to CNET today that the games will not be available on the company's current hardware. Instead, the titles will be made available to owners of new hardware expected to launch this summer.

Roku has come a long way since its initial set-top box launched in 2008. Earlier this year, the company announced that more than 1 billion content streams have been sent to TVs through its set-top boxes, which currently range in price from $59.99 to $99.99. It currently offers more than 250 entertainment options in its Channel Store, which basically acts as an applications store, allowing people to add those channels to their personal menu and watch the content associated with them.

Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and NBA Game Time are among the channels Roku offers.… Read more

Keep your Angry Birds, we'll take something a bit more classy

Birds and weapons? Sounds like a certain smartphone-game-turned-cultural-touchstone, right? Well, don't worry; we know you've heard enough about that particular phenomenon to last a few lifetimes.

No, this little blog item is about something far less widespread than a popular iPhone app. In fact, the "gadgets" in question here--if one dare call them that--are truly rare. So rare that they're expected to draw $2.5 million to $5 million at a Hong Kong auction later this month.

And though they were created in the early 19th century, and are anything but digital, they still manage to impress with the obvious technical mastery of their makers. … Read more

Watching the makers make Maker Faire

SAN MATEO, Calif.--"They're putting Josh in the cage!"

It was early this afternoon, and a group of school kids were excitedly screaming those words over and over. And it was true. A kid called Josh was being put inside a cage that was part of a performance by a group called Arc Attack. Soon, the cage would be bombarded with electricity from two of Arc Attack's signing Tesla coils. No Joshes would be harmed in this experiment. But an awful lot of grinning would be done.

This is Maker Faire. Well, almost. The famous DIY festival begins in earnest tomorrow morning, and over the course of the weekend, in excess of 100,000 people may well get themselves to the San Mateo County Event Center here to see countless examples of do-it-yourself robotics; 3D printing; steampunk kinetic sculptures; and much, much more.

But today was setup day, the day the thousands of so-called "makers" arrive, drop their gear, and start building the projects they'll show the tens of thousands of visitors over the next two days. Being at Maker Faire on setup day is both a treat--it's always great to see the process behind something as cool as Maker Faire, and it's nice not to have to compete with 50,000 people to see something--and a curse: Only about half the projects are finished.

One thing that's definitely cool about being on hand for setup day is that each and every time you return to a specific spot, there's more there than there was the last time you went by. Even if that was just 30 minutes ago. A steady stream of trucks, vans, cars, and other conveyances arrive, and with them, the festival comes to life.

Maker Faire started here in 2006, and is now a worldwide phenomenon. From 20,000 visitors that first year to 80,000-plus last year, attendance figures are now expected to hit six figures. At the same time, the festival has planted its flag in other cities, such as Austin and New York. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1472: The Internet and the end of snow days (Podcast)

On today's show, Eric Schmidt appears to spout off wildly about fighting anti-piracy laws to the death, but frankly, we kind of agree. Also, LinkedIn's IPO goes bonkers, Apple is close to signing all the necessary music labels to its hoped-for Amazon and Google killer, Kindle e-books outsell all print books on Amazon, and it turns out that Apple love really is a religion. So much so that its devotees literally refuse to believe there could be malware on their Macs. Guys, it's happening. Believe. --Molly

Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 delayed

Windows Phone 7 users who were anticipating the arrival of a flock of Angry Birds next week will have to wait a bit longer for their migration.

WinRumors reports that the popular game will arrive on Microsoft's new mobile platform June 29 instead of May 25. That was the latest date Microsoft had offered for the game's arrival, at its MIX conference in April.

It's not clear what the holdup is this time.

Microsoft has been promising Angry Birds, the No. 1 game on Apple's iOS platform, since last fall, when it erroneously said the game would be on WP7, before actually running that by the game makers at Rovio.

The two companies eventually got on the same page and said in February the game would arrive by spring. … Read more

PopCap Games and Amazon get exclusive

Amazon knows what mobile gamers want--popular titles and freebies. By inking high-profile studios to exclusive launches, the company has generated plenty of positive buzz around its Appstore and continues to build momentum, especially with its free App of the Day offers. The first being the hugely popular exclusive free download of Rovio's Angry Birds Rio.

So to follow up Amazon's success with its deal with Rovio, the company recently signed an exclusive agreement with casual gaming company PopCap. Chuzzle is the first game to roll out from PopCap and is also the free download of the day. Other … Read more

This Day in Tech: Bin Laden's sneakernet

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET News for Friday, May 13.

RIP: Where our gadgets go when they die.

Bin Laden's sneakernet: How the al-Qaeda leader used e-mail off the grid.

We signed on to Tinychat: What happens when a group-oriented take on Chatroulette adds location sharing?

No surprise here: Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies receive Guinness World Records.

Freebie: Sure, it's Friday the 13th, but it could still be your lucky day to win 3D desktop speakers.

The 404 819: Where everybody knows your name (podcast)

We had a quick olfactory disaster this morning, but we cleared the air and can get on with our regularly scheduled programming. There's more Google news following yesterday's I/O developers conference, and this time the search giant introduces Chromebooks and several new apps to its Chrome Web store.

In other Google news, the company is suffering from a smear campaign in the tech media that sources have traced back to Facebook, of all companies. Spurned from competitive tension in the social-networking space, the two companies are going head to head over growing privacy concerns.

You might've noticed a lack of audio and video voicemails lately, and that's because we haven't received any! If you want to make it on the show, let us know your comments/feedback/criticisms by calling into 1-866-404-CNET (2638) or record a video on YouTube and send the link to the404(at)cnet(dot)com.

The 404 Digest for Episode 819

Google debuts Chromebooks. Angry Birds for Chrome already hacked, unlocking all levels. Glympse.com lets people follow your every move for a given amount of time. Facebook hired a PR Firm to plant anti-Google stories in the media. Let's get a 404 ad on TV! Loser of the week: Mom gives Botox to 8-year-old daughter.

Episode 819 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more