birds

This week on Crave, Donald and Eric go gaga for a robot that sings and dances, provoking the question: does it count as an extramarital affair if the woman in question is made of metal and microchips? Also, we take a look at a cozy Jedi bathrobe that would make a great gift for the man in your life, and Jasmine sings the praises of a stylish gadget bag for the ladies. (Donald, meanwhile, susses out its kid-friendliness.) Then, Old Man Donald goes on a crazy rant inspired by popular mobile game Angry Birds, which enjoyed 2 million downloads in just over two days on the Android platform. Finally, a very special This Is Why You're Fat probably won't make you fat at all...but it's still pretty gross.

In earnings call news, only Steve Jobs can give an earnings call this much drama: a five-minute rant on how Android isn't open, but even if it was open, it would still fail, like that oh-so-open Microsoft Plays For Sure. (What?) Plus, the executive shakeups continue at Microsoft. --Molly

On today's show, it's a total Monday, so we devolve into nonsense words a little bit. It's mostly to stave off our justified rage over Cablevision and News Corp.'s money-motivated, consumer-unfriendly standoff. In other news, Google offers personalized Doodles on your birthday, and Borders offers yet another manifesto outlet. --Molly

Angry Birds has hit 2 million downloads on Android-based devices in just two days of availability, the game's developer announced on its Twitter account today.

On Friday, Rovio released Angry Birds for Android users on cross-platform app store, GetJar. The game is also available in the Android Market. Pent-up demand for the title, which has consistently been at or near the top of Apple App Store charts in several countries around the world, caused GetJar's site to crash on Friday. The site eventually recovered, and is currently up and running for those want to download the game to … Read more

On today's show, we take a look at all the Windows Phone 7 news, all the phones, and the sad little battle between Microsoft and Rovio (makers of Angry Birds). Also, more talk about the Verizon iPhone--including the rumor that the rumored phone won't go 4G for at least another few years. Plus, self-driving cars will save us all. --Molly

The folks behind Angry Birds are a bit, well, angry.

It seems Microsoft was a bit hasty in posting a Web site that indicated that the popular game was among those headed for Windows Phone.

The folks at enthusiast site WMPoweruser spotted the icon among those of apps that are coming to the phone operating system, which is set to be unveiled tomorrow in New York.

In a Twitter post, however, Angry Birds creator Rovio Mobile said that Microsoft had overstepped its bounds

"We have NOT committed to doing a Windows Phone 7 version. Microsoft put the Angry Birds … Read more

If you've been checking out the most popular list at the iTunes App Store recently, you might have noticed that a new game has reached the top of the charts--even unseating the mega-popular Angry Birds. It's called Cut the Rope and it challenges you to feed candy to a hungry little monster named Om Nom by cutting various ropes to direct the candy to his waiting mouth. It's a little hard to describe here, so check out Rick Broida's coverage of Cut the Rope here.

Beating out Angry Birds at the top of the charts is no small feat (it's been sitting pretty there for months), so it got me thinking about what type of game reaches the top of the iTunes App Store.

It seems you must have polish--both games were obviously painstakingly produced. From the main characters down to the menus and even the design of the buttons, the whole experience captures the ambiance the developers are trying to convey making the game more immersive. Both games have extremely cute characters; each of the different birds are adorable in their anger, and the little green monster Om Nom couldn't be cuter when he opens wide for the candy. Both games have simple controls that can be played by anyone--this seems to be the biggest factor. Just about anyone from any age group can grasp the simple controls, but the games are still plenty challenging.

Finally, you need airtight audio, with little nuanced and silly additions like the muttering birds in Angry Birds, or the sigh of sadness when the candy misses Om Nom's mouth. Judging from these games' success, it seems as though the combination of these ingredients casts the widest net for capturing most iPhone gamers' hearts.

So what will the next big iPhone game be? My bet is \it will include all of these ingredients. You can be sure there are developers working right now to capture that perfect combination that makes a hit at the App Store. The only question is, what's the next big hit?

This week's apps include a cloud-synced to-do list manager and an excellent sequel to one of the best first-person shooters on the iPhone.… Read more

Ever since tearing through the 15 new Angry Birds levels released last week (which took all of about 20 minutes), I've been in a bit of a funk.

I mean, let's face it, once you've finished the game, there's little appeal in flinging the same birds at the same pigs. And new levels are too few and far between.

Where's the next pig thing? (Sorry, next big thing.) Where's the clever new game that can satisfy my craving for cutesy characters and whimsical, physics-oriented action? Where is the successor to Angry Birds?

It's … Read more

Amazon is opening an app store, HP tells Android it's not you it's me, and apps that can save your life. Join Justin Eckhouse and Jessica Dolcourt as they dig into the stories making news in the Android world this week.

Amazon's Android App Store http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20018078-251.html

Survey: Developers favor Android over Apple long-term http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20017903-37.html

HP officially drops Android plans, focusing on "PalmPad" WebOS tablet … Read more