Angry Birds Beta for Android Released, Device Fragmentation Rears its Ugly Head [Update]

The hit iPhone game Angry Birds has been released as a beta on the Android Market by developer Rovio today. The game sees you catapulting your birds at structures, trying to pop little green pig things and is one of the more popular games on the App Store.

Update: It appears at least some devices with Android 1.6 and beyond will work with Angry Birds, according to this support page. Except of course if you have a HTC Hero. Not that I’m bitter.

There seems to be some confusion as to what devices the game will run on though. The Rovio website says any devices that are “second generation” will work, but it’s unclear as to what that actually means. I’ve contacted Rovio (who haven’t responded yet) to find out, but I’m assuming it means any phone with Android 2.0 or higher will work.

Looks like it’s not supposed to be on HTC Heros (my phone, typically) with the Rovio Twitter account saying: “The frame rates on Hero are really bad, so can’t support it. Looking into it, but not likely to be a good enough experience.”

Either way, here’s the direct download link, so if you check “Install from unknown sources” in your settings you can try and get it working. I’ve got it on mine and it’s a bit choppy, with the buttons overlapping and other weirdness but it’s playable nonetheless. See if your handset can manage it.

Nice to finally have one of the best games on the iPhone on Android, even if device fragmentation has made a little more difficult than it really should be.