iPhone game Angry Birds lands on Android

The ubiquitous iPhone game Angry Birds has migrated to Android devices, meaning Apple's most popular app is now available to other smartphone owners who rely on Google's operating system.

The infuriatingly addictive game, in which birds must bomb the fortresses of a gang of green pigs to reclaim their stolen eggs, has been a massive hit on the iPhone and iPad with almost 20 million downloads. The game, costing 59p in the UK, is the number one paid-for app in 60 countries. A free trial version has been downloaded 11 million times while the iPad app has been downloaded 200,000 times - even though it costs a hefty $4.99 in the US.

The inventors of the game, Finnish company Rovio, made the free Lite Beta version of the game available at Google's Android Market, although it was reported that it was not working properly on some devices. The official launch is planned for later in the year.

The application is the classic Apple App Store success story and has many celebrity followers. Tennis player Andy Murray Tweeted at the US Open that he was "dominating Angry Birds on the iPad".

Mikael Hed, Rovio's chief executive, has plans for global domination and last month told Variety magazine he wanted to turn his creation into "a major franchise that crosses over to other platforms - from TV shows and movies to toys and comic books."

Hed revealed that Rovio had been doing the rounds of the Hollywood movie studios in the hope that Angry Birds can be quickly turned into a film. The faddish nature of new technology would mean that the company and film studio would have to cash in quickly. But there is an audience out there, a YouTube cartoon trailer for the game has had almost 6.5 million views. ·