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Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

The FCC is fighting challenges to new Net neutrality rules

Amazon.com may soon launch a Netflix competitor that will stream movies to Amazon Prime customers at no extra charge.

Amazon has experienced some sign-in flaws that expose accounts by logging into a variation of the correct password

New research shows that Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world

New versions of Angry Birds will be based on the animated film "Rio" and on the holiday of love we know as Valentine's Day

Rovio Mobile has been progressively flinging hints about an Angry Birds animated series.

The Rovio YouTube channel offered gamers a glimpse into the lives of their favorite bitter birdies early last year with an official cinematic trailer. Several more videos popped up showing the feisty avians encountering a mighty eagle and celebrating the holidays. The videos are far from amateur, and resemble what could be an animated Angry Birds show (take a peek at the cinematic trailer below for a sense of what a series might look like).

But now, official word on the matter. In an interview with British … Read more

ATLANTA--Not many birds of a feather flocked together for Rovio's official Angry Birds Day meetup yesterday--in Atlanta at least.

Rovio promoted the event, scheduled to mark the first anniversary of the popular game for mobile devices, as a celebration of 3 trillion popped piggies and the chance for fans to meet, play, and compare scores. And while enthusiasts signed up for meetups in 65 countries, poor planning and only a couple of show-ups made the event here in Atlanta seem rather lackluster despite 28 people expressing interest on the meetup site.

Our nest ended up being a brewery just north of downtown that had recently gone through a name change, which probably added to the confusion. (My fellow Crave contributor Matt Hickey reported that no one showed up for the meetup in rainy Seattle, though New York and Los Angeles enjoyed the sight of fans in Angry Birds costumes).

Still, despite the tepid showing here in Georgia, we managed to have some finch-flinging fun. After checking in and grabbing a pint, I came across David Moore (aka Cap'nDave), a mild-mannered thirty-something who secretly moonlights as an Angry Birds enthusiast. He was eager to talk about his passion for the game, and we were comparing scores and strategies after a few minutes.

It wasn't long before he revealed the depth of his superpowers. Moore has completely beat the game with three stars on all levels, has all golden eggs, a 97 percent achievement score, and was one of the top-rated players in the area (according to the built-in leaderboards). I knew I had found the superfan I was looking for. … Read more

Angry Birds creator Rovio is ruffling its feathers and spreading its wings. At an event today touting the game's popularity, the company discussed an in-app payment system it will soon open up to all developers.

Dubbed Bad Piggy Bank, the service is designed to be a "one-touch payment" option for consumers who want to buy goods in-game. Rovio was quick to point out that no registration or credit card is required at the time of purchase. Instead, users will be billed on their monthly phone bill.

Rovio said its decision to launch Bad Piggy Bank is rooted … Read more

Everyone's favorite finch-flinging frolic is going festive for both iOS and Android devices (just try saying that five times fast after downing a glass of egg nog).

Rovio Mobile's next big update for Angry Birds, which celebrates Christmas, has been hinted at, detailed, and screenshotted, and now the company has made it official, though we don't have an exact release date yet.

Angry Birds Christmas will be free if you purchased the 99-cent Angry Birds Halloween edition for iOS devices. Rovio had initially tweeted that the Christmas title would only be coming to the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad, but today posted a message that it's flying onto Android too.

Now we're just waiting to hear if Angry Birds fans with MeeGo, WebOS, and Symbian devices will see their Yuletide cheer turn into jeer this holiday. … Read more

The good news for Android is that it's flexible enough to reach many corners of the smartphone market. The bad news is that this can mean headaches for programmers--as the top-ranked game Angry Birds illustrated today.

Angry Birds developer Rovio Mobile has announced that it's going to create a second version of its flagship game for lower-end Android devices after finding "severe performance issues."

"With our latest update, we worked hard to bring Angry Birds to even more Android devices. Despite our efforts, we were unsuccessful in delivering optimal performance," the Angry Birds developer … Read more

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

We're back again with another episode of The 404 Podcast, and for once, Wilson is pissed. It seems the only thing he cares about these days is Angry Birds. Rovio Mobile, creator of the addictive game is introducing a new character into the fold that can be purchased to get players through some of the more difficult levels in the game.

The Mighty Eagle can be purchased in gameplay, but Wilson considers the all-powerful bird an unnecessary cheat that almost ruins the fun of accomplishing an otherwise difficult, but entertaining goal.

For those who play the game, the Mighty Eagle is basically a God-mode trick that lets you clear any one level instantly. Check out Rovio's Mighty Eagle video and judge for yourself.

Moving on to more serious(ly obvious) news, stop using FourSquare and Facebook Places to broadcast your extended absence from home! The recent scourge of location-based check-in services like Facebook, FourSquare, and Twitter are a burglar's dream come true, and that's exactly what a ring of three techy criminals used to rob 18+ homes in New Hampshire.

Fortunately for the homeowners, the criminals were even bigger idiots than the posters- they stole a large amount of fireworks from one of the homes, so police were advised to listen for loud noises around the neighborhood. Sure enough, the criminals couldn't resist lighting off a few explosions, and an off-duty officer pounced on the scene and apprehended the men. The moral of the story, if it weren't clear enough by now, is think before you post, dummy.

So Chattanooga has the fastest Internet in the country now, but nobody really cares except Wilson, so we move onto the next story, a compelling question: Are action video gamers better decision makers?

Researchers at the University of Rochester claim that gamers (of first person shooters) possess extrasensitive "probabilistic inference" qualities that stem from long hours of wandering around deep level mazes and making mundane navigation decisions. So everyone can sleep soundly knowing that there are plenty of folks walking around with exception abilities to make decisions on their aggressive tendencies.

There's a few more stories in today's show rundown, not to mention a bromantic Calls From the Public and more thoughts on the New Jersey Transit quiet cars we brought to your attention yesterday. Great show today!

LONDON--The creator of the popular Angry Birds game for mobile devices is adding a new character--and new profit-making potential along with it.

Rovio Mobile currently offers a limited free version of the game and a constant series of new levels to those who pay for Angry Birds. The new character, an all-powerful bird called the Mighty Eagle, can be bought within the application when players want to blast their way through a level they can't pass with the conventional arsenal, said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed, speaking here at the Nokia World conference.

That means even those who've paid … Read more