Angry Birds is winging its way to the Amazon Android Appstore. Angry Birds Rio will only be available from amazon.com/angrybirds, a huge boost for the bookselling website’s new rival to Google’s own Android Market.
Google’s operating system for mobile phones and tablets allows you to buy apps for your Android device. Amazon is starting a rival app shop, where you’ll be able to get the latest version of the annoyed avians, based on the forthcoming animated film Rio.
You’ll also be able to get Angry Birds and Angry Birds Seasons, without any adverts for the first time, from Amazon. Angry Birds maker Rovio announced the news at digital and music bunfight South by Southwest, held this week in Austin, Texas.
Angry Birds Rio will offer 60 levels when it’s launched. Rio is the animated tale of an irritating macaw flying around irritating people, from the makers of Ice Age and featuring Jemaine from comedy show Flight of the Conchords, Tracy Morgan from comedy show 30 Rock and Will i Am from comedy band Black-Eyed Peas.
Regular cinemagoers will already be sick to the back legs of Rio thanks to the recent Orange gold spot — the mobile phone advert just before every film starts — during which Jesse Eisenberg undoes all his hard work from The Social Network in just 30 seconds of phone-flogging cartoon eye-plague.
There’s no date yet for the Amazon Appstore launch, but Amazon’s blog for app developers says it’s taking off “very soon”. Amazon is now tweeting at twitter.com/amazonappstore.