LONDON—Everyone can have Angry Birds! Well, okay: everyone in developing countries can have it. Nokia showed off a new version of the culturally iconic pig-smashing game for its Series 40 feature phones here at Nokia World, so I tried it.
Sadly, Angry Birds on feature phones is kind of disappointing. It's sluggish and the graphics look like they were de-rezzed from high-res versions, so there are anti-aliasing problems that make graphics look jaggy (see the slideshow below). I played Birds on two of the new Nokia Asha feature phones, the 300 and 303, and both were similarly jerky and jaggy. Boo.
One pleasant surprise: the Series 40 version doesn't use the same levels as on other platforms, so if you've played Angry Birds elsewhere, this will be a new (ish) challenge. Otherwise, game play is very familiar; slide up or down to zoom in and out (because these phones don't have multitouch), pull the bird back and let 'er fly. Boom.
The new version of Angry Birds runs on Nokia feature phones with touch screens, so it might run on U.S. phones like the Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type and the Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type. There's a free version with 15 levels; the full version costs about $1.50 on Nokia's Ovi Store.
Series 40 may be the biggest app ecosystem nobody knows about, though we don't know exactly how many apps are there. Nokia's Ovi store also has pages and pages of apps, but won't provide a count.
Most U.S. feature phones are capable of running apps, but have crippled app ecosystems. They're required to work through mobile carrier "decks," which have traditionally had fearsome approval processes. Third-party app stores like GetJar.com have offered apps for AT&T and Sprint phones for years, and the carriers have periodically said they're making feature-phone app approvals easier, but most developer energy in the U.S. has since moved to the more powerful and profitable smartphone platforms.
Phone economics are different in less-wealthy countries, though, so Series 40 apps have opportunities in countries like Kenya and Mexico, Nokia executives said earlier today.
On the smartphone front, Nokia this morning announced its first two Windows Phones, the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, which feature exclusive navigation, music, and sports applications. For more, see PCMag's hands on with the devices.