Rumours have spread wider than Montana Fishburne’s legs that Google will soon be the proud owner of mobile phone manufacturers Motorola. However, the news today suggests the deal is not completed because Google needs approval from anti-competition regulators on both sides of the pond before it can be made official.

According to online reports, 13 February will be the day that the EU will be publishing its decision. For Google’s sake, let’s hope it swings their way, especially when considering the search engine’s quarterly earnings are lower than expected.

That’s right, despite the massive success of Google’s Android mobile operating system, the Silicon Valley homie‘s quarterly earnings report missed analysts’ estimates, sending Google’s stock down 9% in after-hours trading on Thursday.

But good old Google doesn’t have too much to worry about – it announced this week its social media network, Google+, now has 90 million users. That’s double the amount it had three months ago. Not bad, not bad. But still, only a tenth of rival Facebook’s user base. There’s a long way to go yet.

Over in the Apple-bobbing enchanted seas, rumours have sparked across the world wide web that an iPad case maker in China – named Chinee – has started to sell a cover for a device called the “iPad 2S”.

Does this mean that the iPad 3, rumoured for Spring this year, will in actual fact just be an updated iPad2? Shock Horror! Not again, Apple. After a disspointing iPhone 4S instead of iPhone 5 announcement in October last year, it wouldn’t surprise us. But it would annoy the hell out of us. Who wants to wait months on end and then shell out another £400 for a few updated features? Not us.

In a report by 9to5mac, Chinee says it has received information via a source from within Apple and has produced its case to fit an iPad which is 1mm thicker than the current iPad 2. And with the case manufactures having a good history of reliable sources when it comes to pre-empting the tech giant’s hardware plans, it looks like an iPad2S will more than likely be Apple’s next announcement. Boo!

Speaking of being pissed with Apple, Samsung has reportedly lost a court bid in Germany to sue the iPhone manufacturer for a patent they said Apple infringed. We know, we know…not again. But surely Samsung deserves to win at least one patent proxy war? Nevertheless, this time it was all about 3G radios; a patent that Samsung said Apple had stolen from them. If Samsung had won it, it could mean devastating news for Apple because many of its products use the technology.

However, according to online reports, Judge Andreas Voss told Samsung to sling their hook, giving no reason why she didn’t grant them the bid. Regardless, Samsung aren’t likely to give up anytime soon – not until they win at least one patent over Apple. Let it be known, everyone likes the sweet taste of revenge.

Another major tech firm known more widely for its stunning television sets, LG, has announced a new quad-core smartphone. With its almost uninspiring name LG X3, the handset will double the amount of cores inside current phones offering blazing fast response times.

Just like the rumoured Samsung Galaxy SIII and the HTC Edge, there will be an Intel Tegra 3 chipset inside complemented by an impressive 4.7″ high-resolution display on the outside.

Other specs confirmed by the company include: a 9mm thick casing; an 8-megapixel shooter on the back; a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front; and 16GB of expandable internal memory.

It’s also expected to run on the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Excited? Of course you are. LG are expected to reveal more about the X3 at the Mobile World Congress next month, so keep your smartphone-fixated eyes peeled.

Lifestyle News

Kate Chambers

Q&A with Kate Chambers, Portfolio Director, ICE Totally Gaming

What can visitors expect to see at ICE in January?

“ICE Totally Gaming is the only exhibition that brings the online and offline gaming worlds together, which means that visitors to ICE have a unique opportunity to see at first hand the challenges, trends, technologies and of course the opportunities impacting the entire gaming landscape.  As always the key drivers of change will be legislation and technology – however ICE plays a broader role enabling visitors to meet and socialise with colleagues from throughout the world, network, debate the future and hopefully leave the exhibition armed with new ideas and new ways of doing business.

How will the recent Department of Justice ruling impact ICE?

“Immediately after the news broke just before Christmas we took some soundings from industry experts such as Warwick Bartlett at GBGC and the view is it will be positive for ICE.  Following the ruling, software suppliers have been receiving a lot of enquiries from theUSAand we anticipate operators coming to ICE to see at first hand what is on offer and what deals can be achieved.  ICE Totally Gaming comes just a month after the ruling and so many of the gaming innovators at the heart of the issue have stands at ICE – it’s a perfect opportunity to see all of the major players in one place at the same time.  Those three days in January could well be the most important of the year for many operators.”

Have you got any advance notice of what’s new at ICE Totally Gaming?

“ICE Totally Gaming reflects what is taking place across all of its sectors. For example regulations such as Facebook’s change in policy on gambling advertising, has prompted new ways of thinking and new product strategies, all of which will be manifest at ICE. Some of the big ticket issues relate to the rising importance of tablets, html5 and new developments in game content across all platforms.  Gaming products are of the moment, first mover advantage is crucial and with the pace of technological change and more importantly the speed with which games creators harness new technology it’s a case of always keeping abreast of change. The best place to do that is at ICE Totally Gaming.

What are your ambitions for the exhibition?

“Our aim is to build on the success of 2011 when ICE lived up to all of our expectations recording double digit growth and in the process breaking the 20,000 attendance figure.  The post-show independent research we commissioned showed a very high approval rating with nine out of ten attendees saying they would recommend ICE to a colleague/associate and exhibitors being extremely bullish about the show and the business they’d written. Great exhibitions leave their stakeholders inspired and wanting more and that’s our ultimate objective for ICE Totally Gaming. I’m very confident about 2012 which also has the added poignancy of being the last ICE to take place at Earls Court.”

To know more about the ICE Totally Gaming 2012, or to register, click here.

Conference News

In a report by CBS Money Watch, Malloy told journalists that his administration is investigating what can be done to protect jobs associated with Connecticut’s two tribal casinos. “The Internet is the Internet. You don’t turn off the Internet at any state’s borders,” he said. “It’s an impossibility.”

He also made reporters aware that his office is looking at other issues stemming from the potential arrival of iGaming, such as whether to allow the state’s casinos or the state lottery to handle any potential online gambling operations. He added: “If it moves forward, and it’s clearly going to move forward, it’s going to be available in Connecticut. Now we have to decide, in the state of Connecticut, what is our approach to that.”

However, Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, who’s all against internet gambling, doesn’t agree. He made his opinions clear, telling Malloy he believes there’s still a chance Congress could fight the legalisation of online wagering in Connecticut, and that there are ways the state can restrict it. He said: “I think the governor wants everybody to believe there’s nothing we can do about it and therefore he wants to gain revenue from it. That’s not right.”

In his retort Malloy cleverly said he is “not the one” bringing online gambling to Connecticut.

“It’s a national decision that has largely already been made. So the question is, what do you do to defend the tens of thousands of jobs directly and indirectly tied to those two [tribal casinos] and I think that’s a legitimate question and that’s one of the things that we’re considering,” he said.

McKinney added he deems the operators of Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun are “very profitable, very successful.”I think they’re certainly more than capable of taking care of themselves,” he said.

Whose side are you on?

Legal News

As eMarketer has recently highlighted, women who play online games now outnumber male gamers. Surprising, but true. In a ComScore Media Metrix study released last year, which looked into what genders play online games, around 48 million females played online compared to approximately 47 million males.

Also, another 2011 study by market research firm, Interpret LLC showed console use among female gamers had increased “significantly” in the previous two years – with some 21% of women gamers using an Xbox 360 and 16% using a PS3.

The same goes for iGaming. While women hold the title for playing more online bingo and slots games, the rise of social media games on Facebook, such as Texas Hold ‘em Poker, may be a reason why we’ve seen a rise in the number of female players in the online gambling arena. Women prefer more social-based and interactive games, as note in a PopCap Games report. The report last September showed that more women indulge in a bit of social gaming like FarmVille and Diner Dash than men do. Interpret analyst, Courtney Johnson, backed this up when he said in a statement: “[Women] are much more likely to prefer to play solo than men, and play games for less competitive and more narrative- and character-driven reasons.”

The increase of women in gambling is likely already the case in the casino. There seems to be a growing effort via marketing campaigns to attract women to play what is considered to be more male-oriented online casino games and certain resorts have hosted Ladies Championships to attract more female interest.

However, there could be a problem here restricting an eventual 50/50 spilt of ladies in gambling. While men gamble with skill and serious determination to beat the house odds, reports suggest that women find online casinos to offer more of an entertaining atmosphere where they can socialise and spend a few hours of relaxation.

From this, we see that both casino owners and online gaming providers need to understand the differences between what both sexes enjoy in gambling in order to attract just as many women to their products as men.

Lifestyle News

But in our ever changing cyber landscape, this couldn’t be more from the truth. No matter how dominating you think the internet and mobile world might have become, none of which has managed to overtake the traditional television set’s popularity.

A recent report by Nielsen, a consumer market and trends analyst – which studies media consumption in the U.S. through TVs, the Internet and mobile phones – has found that some 290 million Americans, in 114.7 million households, own at least one TV. Compared with the 234 million Americans who are mobile phone owners, 211 million who have internet access and 116 million that surf the web from a mobile device, there’s a clear distinction who’s the winner.

The report also notes that people who watch TV on a standard traditional set as opposed to on the internet is double, at 288 million and 143 million respectively, going to show that TV is never going away. If anything, TV and the internet (mobile and PC base) are in fact complimentary – with many owners using both simultaneously throughout their daily routines.

But get this, nearly one-third (35.9 million) of TV-owning households have four or more televisions, the study found. And just 17.5 million households have exactly one television, the least popular number of sets among all TV-owning households. With this in mind, remote gambling companies should be aware that TV is still a great place for getting branding messages out there and seen by as many as possible.

The fact that the Nielsen study also illustrates internet users have nearly caught up with mobile users, (234 million consumers online compared to 211 million consumers using mobiles) could perhaps have something to do with the rise of the smartphone. Does this suggest that it won’t be long before all cellphone users can and will regularly access the net from their handheld devices? We think so. It could be one of many reasons why mobile iGaming is becoming more commonplace as we commence further into the expansion and development of consumer technology.

Lifestyle News

In his statement he referenced the status of his bill, S3019, which if made into law would authorise Internet gambling in New Jersey.

After a panel in the chamber didn’t  hear the bill today (the final committee meeting day of the session), Lesniak said: ”Speaking with Governor Christie, I’ve agreed to reintroduce Internet gaming in the next legislative session, and I expect that we can get it through the Legislature and signed by the Governor within the first few weeks of the new session.”

Lesniak says Internet gaming has a “transformational potential for New Jersey’s gaming industries”. He continued: “I believe that Internet gaming has transformational potential for New Jersey’s gaming industries. While I remain hopeful that New Jersey can take the lead on this exciting new direction for wagering.”

It is hoped by the senator that the introduction of iGaming in the Garden state will result in new revenues, new jobs, and new economic activity. He added: “I recognise that the complex issues surrounding Internet wagering will take more time to iron out than we are afforded in the waning days of the current Legislative session.”

Most importantly though, the statement concluded with: “This isn’t a question of ‘if’ New Jersey gets Internet wagering, but ‘when‘. My money’s on soon.”

But will it be that easy to pass the Bill through legislature? It may be up to New Jersey voters to decide whether to allow online betting in the state. Why?  Because the Bill is being held up due to the state Constitution that may require the question to be put to voters. In a report by Press of Atlantic City, Assemblyman John Burzichelli, who is sponsoring the measure in the Assembly, said legal issues have to be worked out to be sure the Bill first complies with the state constitution. He added that a constitutional amendment may be the only way to make Internet gambling legal in New Jersey.

What are your predictions?

Legal News

Originally planned to ensure iGaming would be “kept within city borders” under a secure connection for wagered games, DC Attorney General Irvin B said yesterday that officials have opted for other forms of technology to secure the system. Did they realise that online gambling is not a form of terrorism? What a breakthrough!

In a report by the Washington Post, Irvin refused to detail which technology would be used instead, but did mention that play has to remain within the city to be lawful.

The paper also reported that Director Buddy Roogow said the DC Lottery is “very confident in its systems”, and in regards to the intellectual property in the effort to regulate online gaming, he added: “We don’t want to give away everything we’re doing. We feel we’ve found other ways to secure the system in terms of intrajurisdictional play.”

Lottery officials, who have been working on its implementation since it passed into law as part of a supplemental budget plan last December, also say they have no plans to change the main components of iGaming.

This was decided after they held a series of delayed public meetings to address concerns about online gambling. To keep any worrying and wrongly informed members of the public content, they reduced the number of games planned to debut from six to four when iGaming is implemented by the lottery.

However, the pair of games left out of the lottery’s initial plans will be reintroduced at a later point anyway, officials said, showing that their efforts to satisfy are just a waste of time and effort. At least the amendment in network technology suggests they’ve recognised the difference between iGaming and terrorism?

Business News

It might not be scheduled for release in the U.S until February next year. But Japan is due to get its selfish little mits on the Vita in a mere two weeks time on Monday 17 December. Goes to show what your own country’s manufacturers will do for you.

Sony today revealed a number of ads in preparation for its portable gaming gadget . The commercial attached below shows a guy cycling to an empty parking lot and showing off the gaming capabilities of his PlayStation Vita to an envious crowd. Nothing too breathtaking but helps build a bit of that much-deserved hype.

The PS Vita will have 512MB of memory – that’s 20 times more than the PSP – with a graphics processor of128MB of VRAM. Powerful enough by far for iGaming but small enough to slide into your pockets in between a quicky on the bus or train (we’re referring to a gaming session there, by the way).

Will you be investing in a PlayStation Vita, if so, would you use it for all your iGaming needs?

Those of you who like spending your breaks from playing the slots on your phone with a bit of bird bashing (the virtual kind, of course) will be ecstatic to hear there is yet another episode of Angry Birds available for download in the Apple app store.

With a Christmassy twist; “Wreck the Halls” will feature a snowy terrain in which to launch your squawking feathery friends – all with a festive feeling to counter act the hatred you have towards those blasted fat green pigs. There’ll be 25 new levels, as well as a new character introduced to the plot. Depending on whether you want the regular iPod/iPhone version or the HD version for the iPad, though – Angry Birds Wreck the Halls will set you back $0.99 and $1.99, respectively.

Will the new Angry Birds be ruffling your feathers this Christmas?

Here’s the video just in case you can’t make up your mind:

Lifestyle News

Well that’s what happened to a passenger of a Regional Express flight in Australia today. A press release by the airline stated the passenger’s iPhone started “emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow” as the plane touched down in Sydney airport.

According to the report, a flight attendant extinguished the phone immediately, no passengers or crew were harmed.

The photo of the iPhone (pictured) shows a 4 or possibly a 4S model with the black plastic clearly burnt in an area on the lower right hand side and the glass shattered over the burn mark. It’s speculated that the combustion is linked to the battery. Yeah – the battery, again.

Nevertheless, the airline have said the matter has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) as well as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for investigation and directions – with the phone being handed over to ATSB for analysis.

It could have been worse. It could have happened on a Ryanair flight…

Lifestyle News

For those who were lost when we mentioned “binary options”, OptionsClick is a company owned and managed by a group of professionals specialising in financial options, commodities, derivatives, stocks, forex, and marketing, as well as software research and development.  With them, traders can earn returns of up to 85% for each transaction during trading hours, and up to 250% on weekends.

Income Access CEO, Nicky Senyard, said: “We’re very excited about expanding our role in the binary market, and OptionsClick is an optimal partnership. We feel strongly that the OptionsClick program, powered by the Income Access software, will create strong appeal to affiliates promoting the binary market.”

Income Access who also announced a partnership last month with GTECH G2, is an affiliate system provider. Since 2002, Income Access has featured live real time reporting systems, tracking transparency, powerful banner servers, and marketing and customer support services.

COO at OptionsClick, Selena Jameson, said: “Income Access is providing a service that cannot be duplicated in-house. We decided that having expertise was a must and their reputation as a benchmark in the affiliate industry made selecting them rather a simple choice.”

Casino games provider, Net Entertainment, today announced the release of its latest game production: Fruit Shop.

Not the most inspiring name, but the game apparently captures the traditional feel of a classic fruit slot machine into what Net Entertainment call “an upbeat, energetic and colourfully captivating new style”. Being part of the Smart Range family of Net Ent games, it offers record short load times. Wham bam thank you, ma’am.

There’s 5-reels and 15 fixed bet lines in both the main game and in Free Spins. Players will be happier than a banana as the Wild substitutions will award them with a x2 multiplier for fruity wins.

Want to know more? Of course you do! According to a press release, the game provides Free spins which are trigged by any fruit symbol on a bet line win and to add energy, all wins are multiplied by x2. To increase the anticipation, Net Ent. have developed the game so players can make additional wins in Free Spins if they receive the Wild symbol awarding them a x4 multiplier. Bet you can’t wait to get your mitts on those juicy slots!

Business News

Google confirmed the news after reports stated users couldn’t even download the Adobe Flash plug-in from the Android Market using the Galaxy Nexus. However, despite Adobe deciding to axe Flash for mobile devices, the company is still expected to make the media-friendly format work for the only Ice Cream Sandwich phone currently around; the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

A Google spokesperson said, “Flash hasn’t been released for Ice Cream Sandwich yet so as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich.”

Google didn’t reveal when the Flash update will be released, but Adobe should be all over it considering the amount of upcoming smartphones that will be running Ice Cream Sandwich.

This isn’t the only teething problem the new Google/Samsung collaboration has experienced. Forums are also abuzz with an audio issue that looks quite serious. Essentially, the handset’s volume control appears to have a mind of its own, flitting randomly between mute, full blast before cutting off calls.

In a report by Engadget, the problem has apparently only been observed on European phones so far using the GSM 900MHz band, and it’s exacerbated by the cellular modem either boosting itself in a low reception area or switching between 2G and 3G connections. A user poll over at the XDA Developers forum suggests around 60% of owners have experienced the fault.

Google should have an update to sort it all out soon. But if it doesn’t, its newest release, which is thought to be the ultimate iPhone 4S rival, may flop before its even had chance to prove itself a contender.

Lifestyle News

You might question why we even try it. But we do. And it seems that quite a few of us are not too good at it either. A new study reveals almost 15% of Britons have, at some point, submerged their beloved devices in toilet water after an accidental slip of the hand. What loosers.

The survey comes from GoodMobilePhones.co.uk, who surveyed 1,937 mobile users over 18 and found that 31% of respondents have damaged their mobiles with water or another liquid in the past. And yes, the toilet is the number one destination, claiming 47% of damage incidents.

It’s probably all down to drinkin’. The survey found that spilling drinks on mobiles or dropping mobiles into drinks was the second most popular cause of damage, claiming 21% of cases. From third to fifth place is: dropping phones in a bath or shower (12%), dropping in a kitchen sink (7%) and putting through the washing machine in a pocket (3%).

The theory that men aren’t the best at multitasking has never been so accurate, as the report reveals they are three times more likely to be victims than women, with 73% and 27% respectively reporting to have water damaged their devices. With a treasured mobile handset in one hand and something even more precious in the other – it’s no surprise men get confused on which one to shake.

Unfortunately, the study also revealed 86% of those Brits silly enough to let their phones go deep sea diving with the faeces, weren’t insured for such incidents. Woops.

Have you ever dropped your phone down the lav? We’d love to hear you vent your soggy phone frustration.

Entertainment News

On Tuesday Pocketnow revealed that Taiwanese phone giant HTC – whose favourite past-time is announcing “world firsts” – is cooking up the first ever quad-core powered smartphone, called the HTC Edge. Being double the processor speed of any other smartphone out there at the moment, HTC isn’t set to officially unveil the ground breaking Android device until February 2012. For now, it has its sexy red and black ReZound to flaunt around.

However, today a second story broke by BGR, confirming the Edge will be using NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 technology. That might be a change of pace from the norm as HTC usually goes with Qualcomm chipsets, but considering Nvidia invented Graphic Processing Units – we think they’ve made a good choice. The processor will be clocked at 1.5GHz alongside 1GB of RAM and a 4.7 inch 720p S-LCD 2 panel with optical lamination, resulting in a display with the sort of clarity and pixel density comparable to the Apple iPhone 4S Retina display. What an iGaming dream.

With these specs, we wouldn’t be surprised if the Edge will ship with the newest version of the ever-growing Android operating system too – Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0. Other features that are rumoured include a 8MP backside-illuminate rear camera with 1080p video recording, and a 720p front-facing camera, Beats Audio (of course), Bluetooth and a 1,800mAh battery – all at only 8.8mm thick. Could this be the one to beat Apple’s future iPhone 5? Does it sound like an iGaming dream to you?

While HTC conspire against the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers to be the first to get quad-core powered phones in our hands, it seems laptop makers Asus have been doing the same, but with a new tablet computer.

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime was announced today and is in position to be the world’s most powerful Android tablet. The new slate is the first quad-core tablet and like the HTC Edge, will be the first to be powered by the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core chip.

As well as the quad-core powerhouse, the Eee boasts a fifth companion chip that runs at 1.4GHz when you only need a single core for simple tasks, like flicking through pictures of your favourite AyreHeads. The quad-core system fires up all four cores at 1.3GHz for more intensive tablet-fondling like igaming.

Here’s what to expect from the specs (or should we say “exspecs”):

• 10.1-inch tablet sports a 8.3mm-thick body
• 1280×800 display
• 1GB of RAM,
• an 8-megapixel camera capable of shooting 1080p video
• a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera,
• a microSD slot to expand memory

Like the HTC Edge, the Eee Pad (which if you say slow enough doesn’t sound anything like “iPad”) will run Android Ice Cream Sandwich through an update that is scheduled for the end of the year. It will cost $499 for the 32GB version and $599 for a 64GB model in the US, with an option attachable keyboard for $149 that will be available when it ships in December. It’s set to cost £499 when in it arrives in the UK – currently planned for January. Will this be the one to beat Apple’s upcoming Ipad 3?

If you’ll be on the lookout for super fast mobile gaming next year, it seems quad-core is the way to go. Are the HTC or Asus models ones which you’ll be betting on?

Lifestyle News

But one area that remains relatively unmentioned is Australia. Strange, given that the country has a population of 22 million, many of which are regarded as having a high propensity to gamble.

In their ignorance, some may claim that the Australian iGaming market is yet to mature, a claim which is very much unfounded.

Lorien Pilling of Global Betting and Gambling Consultants (GBGC) explains that iGaming in Australia has been present for just as long as anywhere else. She says: “In some respects the Australian market is well established. Some of the first sportsbooks got their licenses back in the mid-90′s”.

“iGaming firms have long been targeting Australia as a market from their offshore bases. Poker and casino services are already popular on the gaming front, and, of course, a culture of sports betting is well-established too.”

Perhaps the most notable of the first sportsbooks to get involved in Oz is Centrebet who gained a license from Northern Territory in 1996. Centrebet therefore has a wealth of expertise in this market and Sportingbet’s takeover of the company in May can be viewed as a very shrewd move.

But Sportingbet isn’t the only major iGaming company to have recognised the potential down under. Pilling adds: “European-based firms are taking more interest in Australia, with a few deals going through in the last couple of years.”

Paddy Power got hold of its piece of the pie in 2009 by buying 51% of Sportsbet, an international company with a strong presence in Australia. The remaining 49% soon followed on the path to the Irish bookmakers in December 2010 – a clear indication that Paddy was pleased with what they saw in the land down under.

So the market obviously has potential and their very few internationally recognised iGaming companies operating in the country. Basically it seems like a sure thing – until the unfortunate subject of regulation is considered.

The Interactive Gambling Act was introduced in 2001 by the government (called the Commonwealth in Australia). It determines the provision of interactive gambling services to anyone in Australia as illegal and demands that internet service providers block offshore gaming sites. An interesting tell-tale system was also set up which allows consumers to report gambling sites deemed as illegal to a regulatory authority.

But thankfully, Australia’s current legislation isn’t all bad. Sports betting, including horse and greyhound racing, is fully regulated throughout the country with individual states able to add their own stipulations where they deem necessary.

Some have taken advantage of this and a state vs Federal situation similar to that of the US has appeared. In the case of Australia, the state’s are bound to have the backing of iGaming companies as rather than prohibiting iGaming outright, they prefer to regulate by using ‘enabling schemes’.

GBGC lists Queensland’s Interactive Gambling Act 1998 and Northern Territory’s Gaming Control Regulations 1998 as to examples of these schemes that have helped iGaming companies to operate in the state. Both had an emphasis on player protection and were set up with the enlightening idea that regulating will be more effective than prohibiting – if only more legislators would see it this way.

But if you were thinking that the Australian market is for sports betting only, you’re very much mistaken. GBGC assures us that casino games, poker and other igaming products are popular throughout the country, despite their illegality. Similarly to the US before Black Friday, no action has been brought against international operators targeting the country and hopefully this lack of action will remain.

Poker in particular is gaining in popularity thanks to the Asia Pacific Poker Tour hosting tournaments there and the success of WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem.

The recent popularity of iGaming in the country has been helped by the ease at which gambling companies are able to advertise. Sponsorship of broadcasts, sports teams and poker events is widespread – strange given the country’s stance on online gambling.

But this is a hypocrisy that has recently come to the attention of politicians who are worried that common gambling advertising will encourage children to gamble. This issue gained more exposure recently when the MCG Trust announced that their advertising contract with Betfair would not be renewed.

This came at around the same time that a review of Australia’s current interactive gambling act was ordered. The review may take a firmer stance on iGaming advertising. In light of this, Pilling of GBGC explains: “There will be strong concerns about responsible gambling and any licensing regime will likely have heavy emphasis on this area and protecting Australian players.”

But Pilling also notes that the review could fully open the door for iGaming in Australia. She adds: “If the authorities do introduce a domestic licensing regime and allow online gambling activities it would provide a further boost to the sector.

While there are risks in the market, iGaming in Austalia certainly shows no signs of decreasing in popularity. Pilling concludes: “The Australian economy has performed better than most in recent years and combined with a propensity to gamble and the possibility of new regulation, Australia is a key battle ground for operators.”

Legal News

The Bill Gates brainchild, simply called Kinect for Windows will be a commercial program giving businesses an opportunity to develop tools with the motion sensor.

Microsoft’s press release stated: “The commercial program will give businesses the tools to develop applications that not only could improve their own operations, but potentially revolutionise entire industries.

“To date, more than 200 businesses worldwide – including Toyota, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Razorfish – have joined a Kinect for Windows pilot program to begin exploring the possibilities of Kinect. Six months ago, a diverse group of hobbyists and academics from around the world embraced the possibilities of Kinect.

“In a wave of creativity, they downloaded the Microsoft Kinect for Windows SDK and began developing creative applications and innovative uses in healthcare, education, art and so much more.”

This could be something really fantastic, or something that could fail miserably.

Though we know what we’d like to see. Perhaps this could enter Windows at a consumer level? It shattered consumer electronics records when it arrived for the Xbox 360, so what’s stopping Microsoft integrating it into everyday computer programs, or online games? If successful, one day we might even see motion sensory technology in igaming platforms such as hold Texas ‘em poker games. There’s always the possibility this could filter down to the Windows platform on the Windows operating system for mobile phones, too. Will we ever see Kinect become mobile – and eventually integrate into mobile gaming? This announcement sparks much intrigue and query among us. And this is just the start.

One thing for sure; it will be interesting to see what Microsoft will do with the sensor, which can pick up on individual limbs and also listen out for instructions, especially if it could pick up on certain hand gestures and translate them into words or pictures. We think you can see where we’re going with this…

How would you like to see Kinect integrated into Windows?

Lifestyle News

A photo taken of an internal document showing list of phone codenames

Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, HTC, don’t only make innovative devices that provide us with many hours of online gaming fun, oh no. It seems that with mobile igaming it may also be welcoming the philosophical counterpart of gamblin’ drinkin’ and carryin’ on. Welcome to the gang!

Due to a leaked document attained by HTCPedia – which shows a list of phones with different SKU numbers for accessories made for a number of newly released phones – it seems one of HTC’s models is code named “HTC Budweiser”. Wassupp!

Since there hasn’t been any mention of a HTC Budweiser before, it’s impossible to tell what the phone is going to be, or if it will “be” at all. It could be that it’s simply a code name that’s already been released under a different brand name. Or, better still, an unreleased phone that plans to offer beer drinkers with some kind of advantage.

Perhaps an integrated beer-button that with one press will order a 4 pack to your door within minutes? Or maybe a Budweiser themed case or bottle shaped exterior? The possibilities are endless. What do you think it could be?

What ever it is, it’s probably going to be a huge hit. According to new quarterly results, HTC sold almost twice as many smartphones in the third quarter of this year than it did in the same period last year. Proof that there are many dedicated HTC’ers out there.

As the patent wars between Apple and any other manufacturer attempting to carry Google’s Android operating system get nasty – perhaps a Budweiser inspired phone is just a little bit of light relief for HTC as it worries over getting caught in Apple’s firing line? HTC did sell 13.2 million mobiles in July to September, up 93 per cent from 2010′s third quarter, which means it probably will get a taste of Apple’s spiteful syrup before long.

The firm has also recently boasted its 4G devices, claiming a leadership position in LTE (Long Term Evolution – that’s faster 3G mobile internet) because of the large line-up of handsets it has that support the standard. Even though in the UK this means nothing network providers fight over slices of spectrum. (How futurist that sounds!)

In a company statement, HTC said: “An LTE device upgrade cycle is foreseeable in 2012 in both the United States and some advanced markets in Asia (eg, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong). HTC is poised to capture an advantage in this market.”

So looks like the lucky bleeders in Asia and North America are soon to be enjoying the super fast mobile internet browsing speeds on lovely HTC models. And not only that, as the company is doing so well, it is also planning to build a new factory in the Taiwanese province of Taoyuan, where the company is headquartered, which will increase its capacity by 40 million units. Are we going to see a HTC takeover? Let’s hope the power doesn’t go to their head like a certain American gadget manufacturer, that would result in them suing every body’s arses off.

Lifestyle News

"Faster, damn you!"

Britain’s leading telecommunications provider, BT, has announced today that it will reach its goal of supplying two-thirds of the UK fibre optic broadband a year earlier than expected. That’s 2014, as opposed to 2015.

With London being the centre of the iGaming industry, it’s only right that its internet should be up to scratch and able to withstand the ever-increasing use of online gaming in the UK.

Though it will be hiring 520 engineers to speed up the process, BT should have got its arse in gear well before now. Its move to fibre optic cable broadband came a good time after some countries in Asia, like Singapore, where by 2012 will have an entire all-fibre optic network up and running and available to all.

Highlighting perfect how far behind the Brits are – the news comes after the UK was ranked 25^th on a report that polled the countries with the fastest internet service.

Nevertheless, in a bid to get the UK on par with countries leading the way – the telecoms giant has said that it is bringing forward £300 million of investment to fund the accelerated roll-out, which has been supported by the government.

Ian Livingston, CEO of BT Group, said: “Our roll-out of fibre broadband is one of the fastest in the world and so it is great to be ahead of what was an already challenging schedule.

“The acceleration reflects the success of the programme to date and is testament to the hard work and innovation of our people. We are investing when others are merely talking about it.

“Thousands of our engineers are busy installing fibre broadband across the UK at an astonishing pace.

“The recruitment of an additional five hundred engineers will help us go even faster and ensure we are ready to help supply other areas should we win BDUK funds. We are proud that most of these jobs will be filled by ex-armed forces personnel.”

There are currently six million homes in the UK now with access to fibre broadband. BT are hoping to reach a target of ten million by 2012 and two thirds of the UK two years later.

But will this see the UK speed its way up the polls on the world fastest internet providers table? If this fibre optic operation was to happen immediately, then maybe. But no doubt by the time BT have sorted out the UK with speedier broadband, the 24 countries already quicker than the Brits will have also bumped their speeds up. BT was just too slow off the mark at rolling fibre out, and probably won’t ever be able to fully catch up with other countries. For example speed demon South Korea, that already provide fibre optic to two thirds of the population and is ranked the world’s fastest provider.

How do you feel about speedier internet? Do you feel like your internet is not up to speed? Or do you feel mobile broadband should come first when considering internet speed upgrades?

Lifestyle News

The company, which is used by some of the world’s most popular online gaming operators, said that the number of game transactions amounted to 2.2 billion in the third quarter. That is an increase of 13.5 percent compared to the previous quarter and 53.5 percent compared to the same period in 2010.

Net Entertainment has signed agreements with several large operators for the Italian market, despite a new legislation which took effect regarding online gaming there in July this year. Gioco Digitale was first to launch, followed by Unibet and Betclic. Microgame was launched at the end of the quarter.

In a press release, the company were stressing how well they’ve done despite the online gaming drama that’s presenting many a problem. It stated: “The regulation of the online market creates extensive requirements that must be faced but at the same time creating large business opportunities.” We guess it’s good to see someone working around the that problem.

Maybe the company’s success this past quarter also has something to do with its recent staff restructuring? Midway through Q3, Johan Öhman stepped down in his position as CEO with Björn Krantz taking his place. Not only taking the position of CEO, he became Acting President and CEO and is now on leave from his former duties as Sales Director and CEO of Net Entertainment Malta Ltd.

The man himself, Björn Krantz, had plenty to say about it: “Taking on the position as Acting President & CEO of Net Entertainment during a strong quarter with several positive events has been very exciting and encouraging,” he said.

We’d like to think that’s the case, too, Mr Krantz. He added: “Revenues increased by 21.7 percent compared to last year which is a result of strong casino performance with existing licensees combined with the launch of five new customers in both new and existing markets. In addition, Net Entertainment signed three new customer agreements during the quarter, one of which was G.Matica, focusing on the Italian market.“

He continued to discuss the company’s plans in light of the ongoing discussions on regulation changes: “Local regulation of our industry is ongoing, and we continuously monitor and evaluate each market individually to assess the impact on the company both from a financial, organizational and strategic perspective.

“As for latest regulatory initiatives in Denmark we are currently working with necessary system, and game compliance planning, with an objective to establish on the local market which is scheduled for opening in the beginning of 2012.”

The company insists the development of mobile games has continued during 2011 and the first games are expected to launch during the fourth quarter.

Business News

Britain leaving a snail trail of broadband disappointment...

A report on international broadband speeds has ranked the UK just 25^th fastest in the world.

According to Akamai’s State of the Internet report for Q2 of 2011, the UK wasn’t even the fastest in Europe; ranked 17^th place for its speed out of 23 countries. The report, which monitored the average speed of more than 604 million unique IP addresses from 238 countries and regions, also found that just 30 percent of the British population have access to 5Mbps or above. In comparison to The Netherlands, this is pretty dismal. According to the report, they are Europe’s fastest with an 8.5Mbps average speed, and with 68% of their population achieving 5Mpbs or higher broadband speeds.

This is surprising news considering the UK is at the centre of the igaming universe. The US did better than the UK, but still – not massively – being ranked 18^th in the world with a 5.8Mbps average speed.

Wanna know the fastest? That was South Korea with an average net connection speed of 13.8Mbps. Blazing speeds that nearly triple that of the UK, and more than double those recorded in the US. In second place, the top speed was followed by neighbours Hong Kong with a 10.3Mbps average speed and then in third place Japan at 8.9Mbps.

However, it’s not all bad. Akami’s did also reveal that the global average connection speed has improved by 21 percent to 2.6Mbps. So things are speeding up at least. 80 countries surveyed as part of the report saw their average connection speed increase by 10 percent or more on last second quarter, that’s twice as many as those that saw their net connection speed improve from Q4 of 2010. But surprise, surprise the the UK wasn’t one of these countries; only managing to achieve a nine percent increase on last quarter. How disappointing – and how strange – considering the fact that seven of the ten countries with the biggest ‘Higher Broadband’ adoption are in Europe.

We need to question what the speed demon South East Asian countries are doing what the Westerners aren’t. With UK ISP Virgin Broadband offering up to 100mbps speed cable broadband as their XXL package, it shows there are the providers out there offering speedier itnernet. Perhaps the reason for the UK’s, as well as the US’ sufficient lag is that their typical population – whom on average may web browse as oppose to game –  just don’t feel the need for super fast broadband speeds?

What are your thoughts?

Lifestyle News

People must just love the realistic simulation of poker gameplay in PKR. Not to mention the characters' choice of garments...

Online poker operators, PKR has been named as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Britain.

PKR, which is still mourning the loss of its “o” and “e” - was placed fourth in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a list which ranks UK tech firms based on their percentage revenue growth in the last five years. Their growth rate was a staggering 9314%. We’re impressed.

Blowing its trumpet with 5 million users and 150 staff, the company has also made it into the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA list. This list recognises the 500 companies with the fastest rates of revenue growth across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

PKR chief executive, Malcolm Graham, said: “We’re delighted to be ranked number four in the UK’s Technology Fast 50. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team since our inception, and we are honoured to be recognised by Deloitte.”

The final rankings will be revealed at a London awards ceremony on 24 November.

In other business news, igaming consultant, IHRE – who identifies possibilities for connecting various companies – has announced the launch of its new website: ihreconsulting.com.

According to the announcement, the site has been created to offer an overview of the firm’s services and expertise. There’s also a design that has been chosen to cater to gaming operators and affiliates as well as companies who want assistance to get a foot through the iGaming door.

Its founder, Edward Ihre said: “Ihre Consulting has now been established for over one and a half years and we have successfully completed a large number of deals and introductions. It has become apparent during this period that there has been a lack of transparency/presentation of not only what we bring to the value chain, but also what various affiliate programs offer, which brands they support and how those differ from one another in terms of strategy, target markets, software and USPs.

“All of that should and will have a major impact on which operators and affiliates should work together. We hope to change that, making the industry more efficient and profitable doing so.”

Additionally, Ihre Consulting also launched a company blog alognside its new site at ihreconsulting.wordpress.com. This is set to provide igaming news and affiliate promotions from some of the 50 operators they currently work with. So if you want to keep on top of what’s going on in the IHRE hood, then you know what to do!

Business News