It was announced this week that Angry Birds has been downloaded over half a billion times. That's right…half a billion times!

That is huge, and proves the extent to which smartphones are taking over.

Angry Birds was first launched in December 2009 and since then has taken the mobile gaming industry by storm. The game has over 30 million active daily users and the franchise now includes toys, clothing and even a movie.

Rovio Entertainment, the developers behind the game, report that they have actually sold over 10 million Angry Bird toys.

Often the most popular games seem to be a bit of a fad, but this seems to be bucking the trend, with more and more people downloading and playing the game every month.

Angry Birds is a great example of how apps can be monetised, with users paying £0.69 to download the game. The Angry Birds franchise has recently been valued between $700 million to $1 billion.

The question is, what, if anything will topple Angry Birds off the top spot? There have certainly been a lot of imitations, but half a billion people obviously think original is best.

Check out the following video, created by T-Mobile, which shows a life size angry birds game controlled through a mobile...