Angry Birds Now Appearing on a Baby Near You

 by Jennifer Van Grove

Even the tiniest tots can participate in the Angry Birds craze. App-maker-turned-entertainment-franchise Rovio has teamed up with baby product maker SwaddleDesigns to release an Angry Birds Baby line.

New parents can now opt to outfit, wrap or protect their bundles of joy, while showing off their Angry Birds fan status, in any of the five types of products (as seen below).

“As parents, one aspect of Angry Birds we appreciate is how protective the birds are and how much they love their offspring,” says Lynette Damir, CEO and creative director of SwaddleDesigns. “It’s one of the characters’ endearing qualities that resonates with parents everywhere, and a key reason we believe Angry Birds fans will be enthusiastic about our new line of Angry Bird baby products.”

Merchandise is a hot category for Rovio and the Angry Birds brand. The company has sold more than 7 million plush toys alone and will likely see merchandise sales skyrocket should the movie project come to fruition.

SwaddleDesigns is making its official Angry Birds Baby products available for sale Tuesday. Items cost $20 to $38 and will begin shipping October 10.

Angry Birds Hits 1 Million Downloads Per Day

 by Matt Silverman

Peter Vesterbacka, the “Mighty Eagle” (read: CEO) of game developer Rovio has announced that the mobile sensationAngry Birds is now downloaded more than 1 million times a day.

Vesterbacka spoke about the milestone at the Mobile 2.0 Europe openIDEAS conference.

This is likely welcome news for potential investors as Rovio solidifies plans to go public on the heels of a huge round of funding to the tune of $42 million.

The Angry Birds empire is also rapidly expanding beyond the mobile space, hitting web browsers, consoles,board games and toys.