20th Century Fox takes Angry Birds to Rio

Marketers want you using their app, they want you to engage with their brand and build a stronger connection with whatever they’re selling; They’re also starting to realise that just because they can build an app which showcases their latest advert and directs you to the nearest store doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll download, use it or say something polite in the reviews section.

That’s why Rovio’s announcement today that they’ll be making a special version of Angry Birds starring characters from the film Rio is such a key trend to watch in 2011: advertisers want to play with you. No one can ignore the phenomenal success of standout mobile gaming titles such as the Birds, Cut the Rope or Doodle Jump (which too has just announced a brand tie-up) and as most brand attempts to beat them have failed except to see a lot more simply joining in.

If that means fun additional, high quality games, in many cases for free, I don’t expect many people will mind - but there’s a fine line to tread in terms of how in your face developers can allow the brand presence to be, no one will want to be asked to book tickets to Rio everytime they start a new level.

Google Goggles now solving Sudokus for commuters all over the world.

“Xbox Play”

New advert for Microsoft’s Kinnetic technology breaks, paints wonderful vision of future, shows houses with very large rooms.