Let’s start with the hardware. Samsung, being bold as they may be with the new features on this phone, showed that there’s only so far you can go with hardware at the moment. Rather than slapping the phone with a 16MP camera sensor or slimming it down to Motorola RAZR width, they focused more on upgrading the OS on the phone. It ships with Android 4.0 also known as Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) but filled with new features and tweaks you didn’t even know you wanted.

Alright, now let’s get down to business. Let the geekgasm begin.

The phone boasts a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED panel with 720×1280 (306ppi) resolution. Oh sweet HD goodness right in the palm of your hands. Above the screen is a 1.9MP front camera which shoots 720P videos. The back features an 8MP camera that can shoot 1080p video. Don’t knock the simple 8MP camera because it has a few tricks up its sleeve thanks to the new features on ICS. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

The Galaxy SIII will be running on Samsung’s newest monster of a processor, the 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Cortex-A9 quad-core chip and it comes with 1GB of RAM. Mobile gaming just got better.

But I digress.

The Galaxy SIII comes with 16, 32, or 64 GB of internal storage. It also has a microSD slot where you can expand it up to 64GB.   The phone also has seven sensors built-in it which includes an accelerometer, RGB Light, digital compass, proximity sensor, NFC, gyroscope and for some reason, a barometer. I don’t know what that’s about but we’ll never know when a barometer might come in handy. In certain territories like the US, Japan and Korea, the Galaxy SIII will be available in LTE. Other countries have to make do with HSPA.

Now let’s take at look at what Android 4.0 has in-store for us.

ICS comes with new features but let me give you my top five favorite tweaks.

1.) Direct Call. It auto dials a contact if you have their contact details or a message open. All you have to do is move the phone to your ear and the accelerometer, proximity sensor and gyroscope all go into high gear and automatically dials the contact’s number.

2.) Smart Stay. This uses the forward-facing camera to determine if you’re looking at the phone. You can set time intervals from as little as 15 seconds, which result in a small flashing eye logo in the Android notification bar. If it recognizes that your eyes aren’t focused on the phone anymore, the screen dims.

3.) S Voice. Think of Apple’s Siri but for Android. Need I say more?

4.) Social Tag. Integrates Facebook or Google+ to your photo albums.

5.) AllShare Cast. This lets you pair to TVs, laptops or tablets over Wi-Fi, mirroring whatever’s on the Galaxy SIII. Oh and the best part is, you can also use the Galaxy SIII as a game controller. Sweet.

Earlier I mentioned that the camera of the Galaxy SIII comes with a few nifty tricks. When it comes to taking photos, Samsung drastically minimized the reloading time so there’s virtually no lag between pressing the button and taking the photo. It also features Face Zoom which recognizes individual faces and by tapping the face, it zooms in and takes a photo of the person.

It also features Group tag, Face Slideshows and you can take photos while filming. But the best feature would seem to be its Burst Shot/ Best Photo option which basically takes 20 shots in rapid succession and then recommends the best photo. Seems like a pretty cool rival to Apple’s HDR feature.

All of that in a body that weighs 133grams, measures 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm. It also comes with a whopping 2100mAh battery. It’s Samsung’s first Smartphone with that type of battery. Simply put, not only is the Galaxy SIII capable of delivering things in all-HD glory, it packs a lot of juice for video playback, gameplay, and talk time. At least, users won’t have to worry about battery life problems with this baby.

While the Galaxy SIII will be available in the US this summer, a specific date has not been given yet for other countries around the world. One thing’s for certain, Android lovers probably could not wait to get their hands on this bad boy.

With that being said, Apple will probably release the new iPhone around the 3^rd Quarter of this year based on how they’ve released previous models in the past. But they better up the ante this time because the new android emperor seems like a tough one to beat.

Lifestyle News

The first online bingo summit was held in 2006 and was attended by more than 1600 people from over 500 online bingo related companies in 15 different countries. One reason why the Online Bingo Summit is tagged as the best summit for online bingo is because you can transform your strategy by meeting with leading experts from the bingo industry.

The Online Bingo Summit is the only bingo focused conference that teaches strategies especially for bingo portals and new bingo sites operators.

After six successful years, this summit will be attended by the most influential people of the online bingo world to infuse their knowledge and ideas to others on the future of online bingo. They will be there to discuss topics such as how Zynga has partnered with Slingo to help build their brand, Paddy Power revealing secret of success behind their newly launched mobile bingo app and discover the exciting innovations in bingo from the likes of Bingocams, Paddy Power and 888.

Aside from that, the folks over at Google will discuss how YouTube and Google+ can help you market your Bingo product and Mecca talking about expanding their presence across TV, mobile and the internet.

Be prepared to hear about the most exciting new markets which will allow you to expand your bingo product across Europe and beyond and hear more about Simon Collins’ exciting new venture into the realm of social media.

If you have the interest or want to develop the interest in bingo games, the annual online bingo summit is the opportunity which you can’t afford to miss. This event is a perfect stage for its fans as it is a great opportunity for generating new ideas which will help to increase the popularity and delight of the online bingo industry.

For more information or to receive a copy of their brochure, click here.

Casino News

This coming December 7, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. PST, CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com hosts the SEO Strategies for 2012: 4 Solutions to Effective Link Building Exposed webinar.

It’s time to start preparing for SEO and link building strategies for 2012 and there’s no better time than on December 7 as CAP reveals the top 4 solutions for effective link building. Working with them would be link building masters, Nick Garner of Unibet and Paul Reilly of Media Skunk Works.

Nick Garner who works for Unibet, the large European bookmaker, is a recognized media expert in SEO and social media. Nick has been in online marketing for the past 11 years and is a regular speaker on SEO and social media.

Paul Reilly, founder of mediaskunkworks.com, has worked in Search Marketing for over 13 years, earning multiple awards and honors. He’s regarded as one of the UK’s most influential SEOs.

The SEO Strategies for 2012: 4 Solutions to Effective Link Building Exposed webinar will run for 60 minutes, including Q&A and webinar guests will have the opportunity to ask Nick and Paul questions about link building during the extended Q&A session.

The SEO Strategies for 2012: 4 Solutions to Effective Link Building Exposed is a live and free webinar covering topics such as the meaning of “blag a link” and what it means for affiliates, the best practices for buying links and how Google+ can affect rankings. Aside from that, it will also cover the top research techniques for link building strategies in 2012 and what systems and processes affiliates should implement to improve link building strategies.

To register for the SEO Strategies for 2012: 4 Solutions to Effective Link Building Exposed webinar, click here.

Conference News

But the strippers of Williston, North Dakota seem to be the happiest of them all. The little oil boomtown might only have two strip clubs –Whispers and Heartbreakers– but  rumors are swirling that Williston strippers are earning up to $3,000 a night.

According to Melissa Slapnicka, co-owner of Whispers, they have received applications from exotic dancers in Hawaii, Alaska, even the Czech Republic and Germany. Wowsa. Bombarded with so many applications, she gives each dancer a week to try out. If it doesn’t work out, they don’t come back.

So what’s the source behind the big paychecks you may ask?

Williston is a big oil town and over the past years, hardworking, blue collar men flock to Williston for work. Usually, these men would have to leave their wives and families behind in other cities to come work here. With no wife or girlfriend to come home to, the men turn to strip clubs for some female companionship.

According to one stripper, nightly tips in Williston earn her the same amount that she used to make in an entire week in Sin City.

And the dancers aren’t the only ones in the club profiting from this. One bartender said she’s making four times as much as she used to since the oil boom.

Entertainment News

In the sequel, Tron Legacy, the Light Cycle was redesigned to look more like an actual motorcycle. The Tron Light Cycle isn’t just in movies because a full scale and working model of the motorcycle has been riding around the streets of Florida and New Jersey.

Built by Parker Brothers Choppers, the Tron-inspired motorbikes glow and zip around like the actual bikes from the film. An all-electric drive system and lithium ion battery powers these custom motorcycles. That’s some space age shit right there.

Its top speed is in excess of 100mph, and its range is 100 miles on a single ranger, with a mere 35-minute recharge time. Alright, so maybe it’s not as fast as the Light Cycle in the movie nor does it leave a solid jetwall, but still this thing’s pretty fuckin awesome even if you’re not a fan of the movie.

I’m not that expert on motorcycles but it does seem a bit hard to ride. Well, it’s probably a small price to pay for the looks you’ll be getting while riding this beauty –especially at night.

Oh and in case you’re wondering how much this baby will set you back, they sell to the tune of $55,000. Again, it’s a small price to pay. If you’re not convinced, check out the video below.

Entertainment News

Physically, the phone is similar to the built of the Nokia N9 and according to Nokia, it’s simply a camera that works for “ordinary people, under ordinary circumstances”.

Nokia hasn’t been doing well in the smartphone market over the past couple of years. They weren’t even included in the list of top providers in the worldwide market. 10 years ago, the Finnish company was at the top of its game, introducing the best phones into the market for business professionals and civilians alike. But now, things have turned. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

With the release of Nokia’s Windows Phone, maybe things will change. Hopefully, the partnership with Microsoft will give Nokia the kick it needs to get back on top. But with the iPhone still dominating the market followed by Android, maybe third spot won’t be half as bad.

According to their press release, Nokia plans to introduce a portfolio of products into the US in early 2012 and into mainland China in the first half of next year. In addition to the existing products, which include coverage for WCDMA and HSPA, Nokia also plans LTE and CDMA products to address specific local market requirements.

Who knows? If Nokia does deliver with the Windows Phone, then they can probably take back their share of the consumer market. Oh and to you guys at Nokia, here’s a tip. If Apple starts slapping you with lawsuits about patent infringement, start celebrating because that means you’re actually doing great. I’m just sayin’.

Lifestyle News

The Hugh Hefner and Co. empire initially wanted to pay her $750K for the shoot but she turned it down and was ready to walk away but they made her a second offer that was much closer to the amount she originally asked for and just like that, she signed the dotted line.

Now times have been rough for the hard partying princess and with her probation getting revoked last week, seems like things aren’t get any better any time soon. Bail bondsmen don’t pay themselves you know so she’s gotta do what she’s gotta do and take offers like this while she can.

But let’s look at the bigger picture here gentlemen. Yes she’s a hard-partying-heavy-drinking-necklace-stealing-probation-violating-junkie, but she’s got one bangin’ bikini bod. She’s not bad, not bad at all. Sure she drinks and parties hard, so do we! We live by the Gamblin’, Drinkin’ and Carryin’ On mantra. In addition, for her to grace the cover and to see her on the spread of Playboy Magazine, Im sure we won’t be caring much about the write up. I say, no more write ups or Interviews or any shit like that. We need pictures. Lot’s of them.

Entertainment News

To succeed as an affiliate in the gambling industry, you’ll need to actively manage your website and increase its authority in the market.  Social media is essential as for affiliate marketing success. Effective social media techniques can increase loyalty and visitors to your website. Some estimates have this number in neighborhood of 20%.

With over 11,000 members, CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com (CAP) is the world’s largest online gaming affiliate marketing community. CAP is one of the leading sites for online gaming brands and affiliate marketers to come together and do business.

CAP will join the Co-Founders of BlueGlass, Dave Snyder (also CEO of SteelCast) a world-renowned authority in link marketing & Brent Csutoras (also VP of Seeding at Hua Marketing) a seasoned Internet Marketing Consultant specializing in Social Media. They will discuss how affiliates can best leverage social media for site traffic.

The webinar will cover an array of topics such as the psychology of linking/sharing, using retargeting to increase linking, the value of social seeding in online marketing, the effective ways to combine and utilize paid social apps and how to monitor and measure social success.

Affiliate marketers will benefit by learning strategies to implement into their Social Media Strategies as you aim to take their site traffic to the next level. You will also have the chance to ask questions of Dave Snyder and Brent Csutoras during the extended Q&A session at the end of the webinar.

To register for the “How Can Affiliates Best Leverage Social Media to Grow Site Traffic?” click here.

Conference News

This month’s Viewpoint features a two-part interview where Dana Workman sits down with Shahar Attias of Hybrid Interaction and Marc Kenigsberg from Euro Partners. In the second part of the interview, they discuss the diference between CPA and Revenue Share Affiliates, how affiliates can help out with the actual retention of players and how affiliates and operators work together to maximize the number of players coming in.

Dana: Let’s talk about CPA vs. Revenue Share Affiliates. How does the revenue scheme make a difference and how they focus their efforts?

Marc: I would say that how they focus their efforts determines their revenue scheme, not the other way around.  Affiliates who are in for the long term, they try and build up communities or sustainable businesses. Generally they’ll want to work on Rev Share and operators will reciprocate by giving them more tools, more access to data, and working like partners. But affiliates that are looking to do things quickly or don’t care if the other side makes money, generally want CPA more.

The one thing I will say is, there is a strong case for CPA for cash flow and not every affiliate that wants CPA doesn’t care about his business. But when I speak to affiliates and they aren’t willing to work on rev share, I get concerned.

Shahar: With CPA, it’s dead meat because you can be as aggressive as you want, you’ve already paid for them, so you can do whatever tricks and stuff that you can imagine or any creative promotions as long as you will make those players to play more and more and more. As long of course that the promotion is economical.  With Revenue Share, it’s a bit different because you need to calculate it efficiently, keeping in mind that you’re not only paying for your overhead cost and operation, you also pay a significant part to the affiliate as well on top of the cost of the promotion so it’s kind of something that has to be more moderate.

Dana: How can operators incent affiliates to focus on acquisition or retention?

Marc: Rev Share.

Both: Laughter.

Marc: I really think Rev Share is the answer to a lot of the problems in the industry today. When both sides have respect for the margins of the other, then you have the business that both people make money. In terms of acquisition, some sort of performance scale giving them more access to control of the players. You know there’s a lot of acquisition strategies but if everything split down the middle and you both have access to the data then you…

Dana: Again, hand in hand.

Marc: It really really is you know. That’s what I believe.

Shahar:  As surprising as it may sound, affiliates are human beings and you know, some of the operators they tend forget that but it all comes back to human contact and treating them as equal partners. Once you have that and you have established correct relationship with them, they will work with you in order to push the joint target together which is making more money.

Dana: How can affiliates help out with the actual retention of players?

Marc: Okay. So I think there are two ways clearly. The one is with kind of consulting or advice. Generally affiliates know their players better than their operators before they come in the door. So giving information about the types of players where they getting, that helps the operators retain them. The second is poker specifically and in some cases, sports where it’s largely community driven not just topless sending traffic from SEO then the affiliate’s community continue to engage the customer after their joined operator and I think they have direct partner retention.

Shahar:  When you work with affiliates, at some verticals such as poker or other tournament based activities, you can in fact as an operator create blocks of much broader event to be allocated to your affiliates meaning you can satellite to them part of the activity offering them an option to send players using a segment of the bigger promotion that the entire data base enjoy. So all of your players can witness part or participate at part of the promotion. New players or people that are not even players anymore before they even register, they can start for example free-roll and the winners will then be allocated into this broader event. So you need to work together with part of the promotion being totally owned by the affiliates.

Dana: How can operators and affiliates work together to maximize the number of players coming in and actually sticking around?

Marc: I think by focusing on core competencies on the affiliates side that means choosing a niche or a part of a market that they’re really really good at and can devote that detail to and on operators side, focusing on their retention and things they do best to get the most out of it and then obviously just coordinating campaigns between them.

Shahar: From the retention side of things, it’s quite simple. You work with your players; you try to provide them the best possible support. Communicate messages that are relevant for them by using segmented tactics and really really getting to know your database. That done together with a sufficient level of acquisition strategy will probably create synergy that will take the business forward.

Dana: So I hear that some companies have actually cut their budget and are still making money by re-activating players or encouraging players that are currently playing to play more instead of acquisition and actually spending money on that. What do you think of that kind of business model?

Marc: Excluding some exceptions in regulated markets, I think either they fly by night operations or they have no rights managing a business. If they were into activating customers to begin with and they weren’t trying to get the most out of customers to begin with, then, not really sure what they were doing. And if they think that just by working with a finite number of people that has a rate of attrition and gets smaller and smaller each month they can replace bringing new customers then, again, don’t think they should be running a business. But they can find me and I’m more than happy to take it from them.

Shahar: Well essentially everything in online marketing goes back to the funnel. In acquisition you’ve got the clicks, then visitors, registrations, and the depositors. In this case, if you decide to completely remove all acquisition effort, in fact, you minimize your reach. You can make more money off your existing players but why settle only for that? You’ve got the entire universe to target and you know by ensuring an excellent retention strategy, you will make more money of any lead coming into your system. But that again with your hydrant, just brings more people into the shop and then take good care of them so all works together. You cannot really do only retention. You’ll have very low level of people.

Dana: It’s only so much time at least.

Dana: Well affiliates were once regarded primarily as an acquisition tool, in today’s online gambling industry, it seems pretty clear that operators should utilize them for retention by working together  to maximize full potential. I’m Dana Workman and this is CalvinAyre.com.

Watch part 1 of the interview.

Business News

This month’s Viewpoint features a two-part interview where Dana Workman sits down with Shahar Attias of Hybrid Interaction and Marc Kenigsberg from Euro Partners. In the first part of the interview, they discuss the importance of customer acquisition vs. customer retention, how operators should balance their efforts between the two, and the operators’ responsibilities.

Dana: Operators face a battle when it comes to customer acquisition and retention and where to focus their efforts even more complicated is the question of who shares the responsibility of these or do they at all.

To find out more, I spoke with Shahar Attias of Hybrid Interaction and Marc Kenigsberg from Euro Partners.

Dana: I’m here with Marc Kenigsberg of Euro Partners, I’m just gonna go ahead into it. Which is more important, customer acquisition or customer retention?

Marc Kenigsberg: I think that they’re equally important as a concept. The question is, in our industry today retention has become more important because there was such a heavy focus on acquisition. The short answer is, it depends on the life cycle of the business. However far you are in the stage of your business, that’s what determines.

Shahar Attias: Well you cannot really have one without the other cause if you won’t have new customers then you won’t have any customers to retain. However that said (inaudible) estimates pencils down the cost of bringing a new customer up to five times more retaining an existing one. On top of that, if you would like to bring a new player to the same profitability levels of existing players, you would need to pay up to 16 times more. As such, it would be much more profitable and economical to just retain the good players rather than invest more resources into bringing new ones.

Dana: How should operators balance their efforts between customer acquisition and retention?

Marc: I think it depends on where you are as well. If you’re looking to build new brand then you need to focus very very heavily on acquisition. But the two are completely inter-related. If you don’t have retention you won’t be able to spend on acquisition and if you’re not acquiring you have nothing to retain so ignoring one or the other, you’re gonna lose both.

Shahar: First of all you need to differentiate between the types of acquisition. You’ve got CPA which is Cost Per Acquisition, those types of deals means that you fully pay for the player before you even started to make money for you or even register or deposit. And then you’ve got the Revenue Share Deals. With the CPA deals, it’s a lot of heavy weight on your budget when you just start your acquisition efforts. With Revenue Share Deals then it goes along the way according to how you develop with your business. As such, it might be more effective or profitable to new businesses to begin with Revenue Share Deals on the acquisition side and think less about the retention. That said you can have simple yet effective retention strategies that goes hand in hand with your business. Going together with it, you don’t need to have all the bells and whistles like the big operators but you could have something that is simply relevant and adequate to your database as long as you narrow players correctly.

Dana: What are the best ways for operators to acquire players and keep them playing?

Marc: Big question. Ultimately there are a lot of acquisition channels but I’d say the best way to acquire players is to work with channels that make sense but to have good retention. As ironic that is, the customer behavior that you have and the way you interact with people is gonna determine if they stay so treat people like people, treat each person like an individual and don’t look at them as numbers on a spreadsheet and that’s your best chance.

Dana: Of course.

Shahar: This is how it works, when you communicate messages to your players, to your existing players, you don’t go and say ‘We have the best acquisition efforts’ or ‘We have the hottest affiliate managers in our team’. What you do, you communicate your better success stories that you’ve had within your operation.  You’re big winners, you’re VIP scheme, the perks you give in your promotions, all of those, you make them USP’s for your operation and then you utilize this in order to give them back to your affiliates as converted metrics. Meaning, you can tell them you do all of those stuff that you’ve done using your retention activities. You can have a better LTV or Lifetime Value of the player. You have an improved conversion rates, you’ve got a much better retention in terms of month-to-month attrition and stuff. This is how it works.

Dana: Is it the operator’s responsibility to retain good players or is it an affiliate’s responsibility to send good players versus bonus hunters?

Marc: I think both. If you’re working on CPA as an affiliate, then you don’t really care and if someone’s gonna pay for that if you want it to continue long term seeing good players. But if you’re not retaining the players as an operator then don’t expect affiliates to keep working with you. And I think that that’s something that’s been ignored a lot in our industry and we hear this balance always, ‘Which is more important, this or that? Which is more important, acquisition or retention?’ and I think as we’ve become more mainstream as an industry and margins have become important, we’re finally growing up and realizing that…

Dana: Everything works together.

Marc: Yeah we actually have to do everything.

Shahar: Operators fully own the players. Period. So, while affiliates end the traffic, once the player has converted and become a player, it’s the operator’s responsibility to take them from this point and onward through conversion and for retention and for depositing and all of the hustle. Therefore, you cannot as an operator say, you know, ‘just bring us the best players’. It’s your responsibility to know your players, market to them relevant messages and improve retention using tactics that you learned can fit your audience.

Watch part 2 of the interview.

Business News

Becky: So why isn’t a license from a jurisdiction such as Malta good for operating in Italy?

Quirino: Back in time, they could reasonably say come talk to my place, come to Malta, come to jeep(inaudible), roads are clear and they are casting stone and the infrastructure works so you will be all set. They could say that back in time also on grounds that… under the treaty of Rome, under the principles of European chart, if you are European and you are based anywhere in Europe you are entitled, fully entitled to…you know… move across European territory and offer services across the borders.

They were not however taking into consideration the state monopolies on gaming and the fact that at national level every country is very jealous of its taxing prerogatives. This was something that  initially was received very badly in places like Malta and so they are very smartly repositioning themselves and for instance they are providing a full package of services provided for Malta and are aimed at the tiny market. The only thing being that if you have your service in Malta you will have to get that server, connect it in real time to the central control system in Italy.

But because its Malta, because its Europe, you can keep your server there so it’s just about reviewing your plans and adapting to a situation that like it or not is happening. The LGA may or may not like what AMS is doing, AMS being the Italian regulator or ARJEL is doing the French regulating. But guess what? They will go their own way with or without the LGA so they’d rather package new ways of offering their services which are still very competitive, price wise and skills wise, know-how wise, etc.

Gayle: Well this is the issue. Of course, you have to remember that gambling historically has always been seen as a vice. Now this has developed into gaming, into entertainment, into games of skill you know, it’s no longer the vice of people, you know, locked up in their rooms smoking and burning away all their earnings. Now it’s become a form of entertainment so I think one historically member states come from this tradition of banning. Secondly, they fear anything to do with the internet.

I think a lot of people have this preconceived idea that it’s out there, that it’s online and that we can’t control it and that it’s automatically bad so it’s easier to ban. And thirdly, deep down they want to protect the public purse. You know they want to have their money from the revenues they generate and this is why a lot of countries have monopolistic structures because of course they will claim that you know, this is to protect consumers but ultimately it’s a huge revenue for these member states. However again, in accordance with EU law, you cannot restrict just for tax reasons.

Becky: So what’s the likelihood of jurisdictions such as Italy working together with jurisdictions that include multiple regions like Malta?

Quirino: For as much as I know of both jurisdictions, they’re very reliable jurisdictions… they are not the kind of, you know, banana island that one might be led to think simply in because they do not carry proper European plates. They themselves stand a chance to enter into some kind of operational arrangements with countries like Italy. But this is going to take time and as ever, we will, it’s a slow process.

There have been talks, there have been discussions about it. I am deeply convinced that it’s just a matter of setting a precedent. So in my view it will be a domino effect so other such deals will follow and then in the long run, we will get to a situation where even the AGCC in Alderney, or the GSC in the Isle of Man will be able to join in and enter into these agreements.

Gayle: If we look in the last 10 years of how it’s developed, the gaming industry’s developed, at least from a point of view a regulatory and legal… it’s developed and we’re moving slowly. Mind sets are changing, member states are realizing that they can’t keep restricting because the market’s there, consumers want it and they’re gonna find a way to do it. And in fact we’ve been inundated on a European level with illegal operators, black market who hold no license whatsoever. So while you’re going to keep restricting the market, you’re not actually going to stop it.

I very much believe that the crusade that we’ve been doing should continue because once you have a valid license from a country like Malta, it’s very difficult from an EU perspective for member states to block those operators. It’s not as easy people think.  So if they’re complacent and say, ‘Right I’m gonna go ahead and have to get a license in every member state’ then that will defeat the purpose and the fight for EU integration and the more we continue doing it, the more this is gonna happen.

One wouldn’t have thought 10 years ago that the European commission would launch a consultation on this. Why? Because they’re seeing that there’s a problem so something will be done. It just takes time. So I think they should defend their license, get  a license from a robust regulator regime because it’s much easier to do the crusade, the internal market crusade and then fight the cause. The developments hopefully if there’s no political will to do it on a legislative level, the court is slowly, slowly helping so I don’t think that the future is 27 national licenses.

It looks like that at the moment but if you look at them, they’re slowly opening up their markets because they’re realizing that if they don’t do it, they’re going to have to deal with illegal black operator…black markets and consumers are not protected anymore.

Becky: So what does the future hold for the jurisdictions that cover multiple geographic regions?

Quirino: Honestly speaking, I see no great future for these jurisdictions at least as far as Europe is concerned. Either they will make an effort to introduce themselves to the European regulators and to convince them that they are not just a very nice location in terms of great infrastructure and great facilities, etc. But they are willing to, you know, abide by the European regulations and legislation not just in matters of gaming but more generally in matters of consumer protection, matters of compliance with privacy law… that kind of stuff.

Until that happens I don’t see a situation where you name it based in a nice Caribbean island may strike a deal with Italy or with France, with any other European jurisdiction. This is not going to happen.

Gayle: For example, our system, we have a very open nice and (inaudible) system for online gaming and we accept operators who are established in any EA member state but even in other jurisdictions which are approved by us. You know, we are pursuing violators, we are trying to cooperate with member states to try and instill a bit more mutual trust because that’s very much lacking.

I think those outside the EU are at a disadvantage because of course they’re not in the club however on the other hand, it’s also, it seems to be easier for member states of the European Union to attack other member states because we find that the French or France are…or the Austrians find it easier to attack our operators because there’s this system of cooperation.

Whereas the black market seems to be totally disregarded. How the… I think these are the jurisdictions, there’s always a possibility of violators and like I said, if they become approved jurisdictions on a list, then again the market widens and they’re in as well.

Becky: As you can see, there’s a lot of grey area when it comes to the regulation of the iGaming industry in Europe.  Operators are working towards a global presence while absolutely face some  licensing challenges in the near future. However, we all remain hopeful that over time the regulatory bodies will work closer together and unify at least to a certain degree. Thanks for watching Viewpoint, this is Becky Liggero with CalvinAyre.com

Watch part 1 of the interview.

Business News

Becky: The gaming industry is very focused on regulation these days. Will all 27 EU member states adopt their own licensing system?  And how can operators remain profitable with all the taxes and fees? Another big question mark is what the future holds for the established jurisdictions whose license encompasses multiple nations such as the Isle of Man, Alderney and Malta. To find out more, in this month’s viewpoint I sat down with Quirino Mancini of Italy and Gayle Kimberly of the LGA Malta, an established jurisdiction that regulates beyond its borders.

Becky: Quirino tell me about your jurisdiction and what it takes to get licensed in Italy.

Quirino: A lot of time.

Both: (Laughter)

Quirino: No, actually it shouldn’t take too much time. What could be very time consuming is the putting together  of the application particularly if you’re coming from a foreign jurisdiction and so you’re not supposed to be able to produce all those papers that typically an Italian company would have to submit. The most painful and time consuming part of this exercise is the putting together of the documentation which entails more or less the usual fit and proper stuff that you have to comply with in any jurisdiction.

Becky: So Gayle tell me what it takes to get licensed in your jurisdiction.

Gayle: Right. Well, anyone who wants to be licensed in Malta needs to be first and foremost a company established to operate gaming services and then it’s quite straightforward actually. You submit the relevant application forms together with a series of documents which are available on our website. After which, we review the business plan, the due diligence, the technical specifications and if all is in line, hey presto! You have your license.

Becky: What is the tax regime for the operators that are licensed in your jurisdiction?

Quirino: Tax system at the moment is a hybrid system because it’s a combination of turn-over based and GBT (global bank tax) based. It’s turn-over based with respect to those games that have long since been legal and regulated in Italy. Sportsbook, horserace, betting, skill games including poker tournaments which aren’t taxed that 3% of turn-over. It’s GBT based with respect to the so called new games or cash games which include online poker, online casino and table games and when they would be regulated at further down the road, online slots as well. For all these new games which were only recently legalized and regulated, the tax rate is 20% flat-rate of GBT.

Gayle: We’ve got four different classes of licenses so each has a different tax system and again there’s everything on the website but definitions of the classes some have a fixed tax rate, others have a percentage based on different amounts but everything’s available depending on the class of license on our website as well. I think we struck it quite right with the tax system in the sense, it’s a fair system of taxation. A lot of other countries have either imposed taxes which are prohibitively high or have not quite figured out the best  way to tax and I think comparatively it’s a very good system. It works quite well actually.

Becky: So what do you think about each EU member state coming up with their own licensing regime?

Quirino: I don’t see a situation where in the foreseeable future there will be 27 countries in Europe that will all adopt the same model because not all of them are so keen to open up their markets. Take Norway. Norway is doing fine, Norway is a very rich country, very few guys over there…lots of oil… more oil than guys. They’re doing extremely fine… they have not one good reason to open up the market. They will stick with their monopoly. Germany, Germany is a work in progress… things may happen in Germany but the fact of the matter is that as we speak, they still have a federal law in place which states that online gambling is illegal.

Gayle: We did join the European Union which has an established set of laws and principles and jurisprudence, case law of the European codes which very much say that you know, you have to allow the free movement of services in line with EU treaties. So I think that all these national restrictions are one dodgy respective European law. Of course, you’re allowed to restrict but you need to justify them and I think the restrictions which are allowed and the justifications which allow to maintain those restrictions are very often not there. So it creates a lot of uncertainty…legal uncertainty for the operators in the market who attempts to go in these other countries on the basis of the European treaty saying  ‘You know I’m an operator duly licensed in an EU member state. I’m allowed to provide my services across border’ and then they face restrictions. And then begins the battle to say, well is it legal? And then of course you’d have to go case by case into each restrictive national policy to see if it holds ground or not whether they have justifiable excuses plus the other conditions laid down by the codes you know so my first, obviously my first reaction is they need to be analyzed with respect to EU law.

Watch part 2 of the interview.

Business News

The first iPhone was already a work of art and the iOS is the best mobile platform on the market. Although I must admit the iPhone and IOS does have its flaws such as its poor notifications system, its lack of a physical shutter button and the lack of native messaging service.
Lo and behold, our prayers (and complaints) are answered with this IOS release.

Apple is promising more than 200 new features for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. I won’t list all 200 here but I will list the top five things that will make users ecstatic with the new iOS 5.

Notifications
Don’t you hate it when you’re in the middle of playing Angry Birds, you’ve been at it for hours and then you receive a text, the screen freezes while it shows your message and you lose all your momentum?

In Apple iOS 5, there’s the Notification Center and it not only includes app and message notifications but mini-widgets that show live information from apps like Weather and apps.

The notifications extend to the lock screen as well, so you can see more stuff right away without unlocking your phone. Sliding your finger on it will automatically lead you to the app that generated that notification.
Now you can enjoy those YouPorn…err Angry Birds sessions without interruptions.

Twitter integration everywhere
iOS 5 will have Twitter integration everywhere. Apps like camera will be able to directly post the image to Twitter. The YouTube App, Safari and even Maps will support direct sharing in Twitter. It also adds a new Twitter address field to your Contacts application.
Let’s just make sure we watch what pictures we tweet out.

A New Camera App
The new Camera app gets two of the most-requested features in the history of iOS. The first is a shortcut in the lock screen to access the camera right away, so you don’t have to unlock and then click on the Camera icon.
The other one is using one of the volume button as the shutter button. Just press + to snap your picture.

New Reminders app
Reminders are another self-descriptive feature. This one’s intelligent enough to remind you to do things based on your location. It’ll synchronize across devices and with your calendar.

iMessage
It’s a messaging service exclusively for iOS users. Kinda, sorta like Blackberry’s BBM service. You’ll be able to send messages, photos, videos, and contacts. Group messaging will also be available. It works over either WiFi or 3G and looks to be making good use of Apple’s new push notifications.

I have to admit, there came a time when I fell out of love with Apple because Android had filled the gaps that were missing. But all of that changed. Apple not only made significant, new innovations with this iOS 5 release, it also added the best of everything else that’s out there.

Now I just wish they could develop a “standing in line in front of the Apple Store” app.

Lifestyle News

In China, sports lottery accounted for 41.88% of the total lottery market while welfare lottery contributed 58.12%.

In the past few years, Asian gaming markets have shown a rapid growth, which has traditional gaming sector investors from the US and UK looking for companies to support in the Asia-Pacific region. Of the Asian markets, Macau stands on top. This market will grow further, led by increasing global recognition, establishment of new casinos and growing economy of the country.

To give you an idea, the gaming revenue of Macau currently stands at $30 billion this year. With the addition of a casino by Las Vegas Sands in Singapore, the Asian market is really heating up. These Asian gambling epicenters have only just begun their growth.

Gambling traffic is high in both Singapore and Macau, no matter what time of year or day of the week you check in. In particular, the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, under the aegis of Las Vegas Sands, has seen a huge boom in business this year over last.

Asian nations constitute the majority of the online gambling market, the development of new gambling technologies such as mobile gambling with create continued massive growth. Gaming analysts at Christiansen Capital Advisors reports the Asian markets made up 40 percent of the total online gambling market in 2009. Their growth has far outpaced faster than all other established markets.  Most casino software developers now include Asian Language support and those that don’t are in danger of missing the boom completely.

The pace of online gambling growth in Asia won’t slow down any time soon, and it is a place worth keeping your eyes on for great things to come.

Casino News

The awards take place June 22 and promises to be an excellent way to showcase the women who are the backbone of the gaming industry. The event will bring together the best and brightest to recognize the nominees and congratulate the winners for their outstanding achievements in the industry.

At CalvinAyre.com, we are big supporters of women in the gaming industry and we will be the official video media sponsor of this year’s event. If this year’s WIG is anything like last year, it will be a fun night that you won’t want to miss.

Here is the list of nominees for the 2011 Women in Gaming Awards.

HIDDEN TALENT OF THE YEAR AWARD
This award goes to the woman whose contribution may not always be visible to everyone but has been invaluable and is highly appreciated by the group/organization.

Amanda Briggs – Sportingbet
Angelika Koller – Sportingbet
Claire Conroy – Paddy Power
Deirdre Curran – Parlay Entertainment Inc.
Ewa Kwiatkowska – Unibet
Francesca Rizzo – Betfair
Janet Viippola – Interactive Gaming Council (IGC)
Laura Nolan – LN Consulting
Magdalena Biernat-Heikkinen – Betfair
Manuela Brasacchio – Lottomatica
Stephanie Cheung – Melco Crown Entertainment
Odette Pretorius – PKR
Rookaya Saleem Fernandez – bwin.party
Robin Becker – Euro Partners
Teresa Tunstall – Gamcare

STAR OF THE FUTURE
This award recognises the enthusiasm and dedication of someone who represents the positive future of the gaming industry.

Anna Conley – William Hill Online
Aurora Merino Salas – WebGamingSolutions
Denise Roche – Paddy Power
Emma Lindley – GB Group
Erika Schwartz – PKR
Laura Craddock – Casino Product Manager, Rank Interactive
Maxine Gibbons – GM, Blackpool Grosvenor
Constance Hsu – Melco Crown Entertainment Limited
Nicola Siveyer – Sky Betting & Gaming
Patricia Doran – Paddy Power
Rachel Ryan – Betfair
Sharneet Birk – bwin.party
Susan Mcguirk – Virgin Games
Zoe Evans – Mecca Bingo

LEADER OF THE YEAR
This award is open to all female leaders working in the gaming industry. She can be a team leader, manager, director, CEO, and the like.

Britt Boeskov – Unibet
Celia Ho – CEO, Limelight Company
Christina Thakor-Rankin – Virgin Games
Delaney Gordon – GM, Grosvenor Casino Piccadilly
Jennifer Weissman -  Harrah’s Entertainment
Kathy Swindley – bwin.party
Louise Amos – BskyB
Lyndsey Barrett – Ritz Club Casino
Michelle Cummins- Casinos Austria International
Michelle Winfield – GM, Mecca Huddersfield Mecca Bingo
Patti S. Hart – International Game Technology
Sue Price – GM, Bury New Road Grosvenor
Susan Luke – OpenBet
Tamara Yaniv – Director, B2C Poker
Tracey Collins – Grosvenor Casinos Ltd
Wendeen H. Eolis – EOLIS wendeen eolis ent.

TEAM OF THE YEAR
Any team led by a woman that contributed to the company’s success has a shot at winning this award.

Celia Ho – CEO, Limelight Company
Claire Osborne – Head of Bingo & Games Rank Interactive
Daniela Attard – Poker Affiliate Team, Betfair
Debbie Lawrence – Head of Fraud, Betfair
Kathy Swindley – HR team, bwin.party
Michela Bianchi  – Mangas Gaming Betclic
Raffaela Eschert – Unibet
Tammy Schuiling & Shara Tamagi – Chartwell
Tracey Collins – GM, Grosvenor Casinos Ltd. Southampton

INSPIRATION OF THE YEAR
This award recognizes an individual for their commitment to encouraging, advancing and/or championing the progress and development of women working in the gaming industry.

Bibiana Woschitz-Bieder- Casinos Austria International
Ellen Learmonth – Mini Vegas Affiliates
Ms. Constance Hsu – Melco Crown Entertainment Limited
Natasha Swanston – Head of Outbound Sales, Betfair
Nicky Clements – GM, Genting Casinos
Nicky Senyard – Income Access
Onika Russell – Ladbrokes

AFFILIATE MANAGER OF THE YEAR
This award goes to the woman whose leadership skills make her stand out from her peers.

Charlotte Barnett – Betfair
Claire Tribert – Affiliate Manager, Sportingbet
Daniela Attard – Betfair
Pallavi Deshmukh – bwin.party

INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
This award goes to the woman who has contributed to the transformation of the business in an unconventional or innovative way.

Adele Lawton – Head of Jackpotjoy, Gamesys
Annie Melnic – Betfair
Jo Hindle -  Sales Manager, Blackpool Grosvenor
Laura Probert – bwin.party
Noa Wolfson – AspireGlobal (Neogames)
Tracy Cohen – TCSJOHNHUXLEY EUROPE

MAN CHAMPIONING WOMAN IN BUSINESS
This award goes to the man in the business that is either a company leader or innovator that has, over the last year, shown a commitment to progress the development of women in business.

Andrew Mciver – Sportingbet
Andrew Love – Ritz London
Gary Loveman – Caesars Entertainment
Jim Ryan – bwin.party
Lawrence Ho – Melco Crown Entertainment
Paul Benton – Grosvenor

From top to bottom the nominations list is full of amazing and admirable women.  CalvinAyre.com would like to salute the nominees and wish everyone good luck.

Conference News

The government says this will help revive its tourism industry, which was decimated by three decades of civil war. The move stands in contrast to the country’s traditional social conservative policies.

The bill sparked opposition but it still passed with large majority in a chamber overwhelmingly dominated by allies of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Gambling is not completely new to Sri Lanka. Flashing neon lights entice visitors into a number of casinos and shops where people bet on foreign horse and greyhound races. However, these outlets have survived by exploiting legal loopholes and paying taxes to local authorities.

The new law allows the establishment of special zones for gaming. Investors are already lining up to take part in a proposed $500m tourism zone in the Beira Lake area of Colombo, the nation’s capital.

With the legal change, the national government will take charge of all gambling licenses. A minister will have the power to create large geographical zones where gaming businesses can be set up.

Anyone doing so without the licence will face heavy fines and up to five years in prison. A tourism official told the BBC that in the next six years Sri Lanka aims to boost tourism numbers fivefold and gaming regulations will help make those numbers a reality.

Sri Lanka only recently emerged from a 26-year period of civil unrest, which at times had erupted into full-scale civil war. Now the nation is looking to rebuild its tourism industry and casino gaming is one important element of that effort and it’s another country joining the Asian Gaming boom.

Legal News

“It’ll be as naked as the law allows,” said Resorts co-owner Dennis Gomes, who is fast gaining a reputation as the Howard Stern of the casino industry because of his willingness to push sex to promote his brand and generate buzz.

Gomes says it’s all in effort to win back millions of dollars in business the casino lost under previous ownership that nearly closed it last fall. Here’s a free tip, don’t let this guy play blackjack.

The Naked Circus show, which starts the July 4 weekend, will be one of three daily circuses Resorts will host in Atlantic City. We’re not sure this is what Gov. Chris Christie had in mind when he talked about casino revitalization but we’re never ones to say no to naked.

The casino also unveiled its new flapper uniforms, which cocktail servers will wear from now on. The black-fringed flapper dresses, worn with black fishnet stockings, are extremely low-cut in the back.

They’re the uniforms that resulted in a lawsuit from 15 servers fired in March after an outside panel hired by Resorts deemed them insufficiently sexy in the new garb.

The lawsuit is pending.

Billboards that Resorts put up around town and on the side of its Hotel show two models wearing the uniforms with part of their rear ends exposed. It’s obvious they are going commando.

“Sexiness is just part of it,” Gomes said. “It’s excitement, fun. Everything that Las Vegas has, we’re going to have.”

The ceremony was held a day after the 33rd anniversary of Resorts’ opening in 1978 as the nation’s first casino outside Nevada.

Casino News

“Your phone will be your wallet.” That’s what Google’s promising with Google Wallet — allowing you to make payments or purchases using your smartphone.

It may not be as big a surprise as Google hoped it would be at this point, but the company has now officially announced its NFC (Near Field Communications)-based Google Wallet mobile payment service, complete with backing from a number of retail and financial partners including Subway, Macy’s, Walgreens, Toys ‘R Us, First Data, Citibank and MasterCard. The partnership with MasterCard means Google Wallet will be fully compatible with the PayPass contactless payment system that’s already widely in place today.

Google says Google Wallet is “more secure than your wallet,” because your credit card is never fully displayed, it requires a PIN to access, and the card data is encrypted. You can lock Wallet, which is a little more difficult with a worn leather billfold. If you lose it, the cards can be de-provisioned over the air. There’s a fair bit of security built into the NFC chip, which is what stores and transmits credit card information. The NFC antenna is turned off when the screen is off, so it can’t be scraped, and the secure element is only turned on when the wallet is unlocked and enabled for payment.

But with just hours after Google unveiled Wallet, PayPal slapped Google with a lawsuit claiming that the internet search giant stole its technology for turning smartphones into digital wallets. PayPal alleges that Google obtained trade secrets from Osama Bedier, a former PayPal executive who is now Google’s vice president of payments.

Payment processor PayPal, which is owned by online auction site eBay, also claims in its lawsuit that Mr Bedier was in job talks with Google at the same time as he was leading negotiations to make PayPal a payment option on Android.

In its court filing, PayPal said: “By hiring Bedier, with his trade secret knowledge of PayPal’s plans and understanding of Google’s weaknesses as viewed by the industry leader, Google bought the most comprehensive and sophisticated critique of its own problems available.”

Google said it had not yet seen the complaint and that it intends to launch its mobile wallet technology in the US in the summer. According to Google, this is just the first step, a ways away from taking over the world. What they’re trying to do is compelling, finally delivering the future of payments we’ve all imagined for years. The end of physical credit cards, coupons, signatures, maybe even cash. Well, eventually anyway. Completely digital, literally frictionless transactions, for anything.

Welcome to the world of tomorrow everyone.

Entertainment News

The countdown begins to what will be one of the most infamous parties this iGaming world has ever seen. If you think last year’s party in Prague was one for the books, then brace yourself because the Seven Deadly Sins Party will blow your mind.

Unlike last year, there will be no guest list, no tickets, and no way in other than registering for the iGaming Super Show in Dublin. Though we have a mantra of gamblin’, drinkin’, and carryin’ on, we’ve decided to step it up a notch CalvinAyre.com’s one-year anniversary party, the Seven Deadly Sins.

We know not everyone will be able to attend the party. They’ve forgotten to register, there just isn’t enough room in the venue or they’re on the other side of the world. Fear not because we will be streaming the party live on the 25^th here at CalvinAyre.com. You can see the party at all its awesomeness and the whole time you’d be green with envy wishing that you were there.

To watch the party in its entirety, all you need to do is go to calvinayre.com/live and witness for yourself what you’re missing. We suggest, you have a Seven Deadly Sins viewing party, honestly, it’s not as good as being there but it’s the next best thing.

So mark your calendars for the biggest, wildest, most epic party the iGaming world has ever seen. The Seven Deadly Sins Party is not—and we repeat not—for the faint of heart. You’ll be lucky if you can crawl a straight line when this is over.

So what are you waiting for? Come to the party or watch it from a safe distance but get down with the Seven Deadly Sins and help us celebrate our one-year anniversary.

One night. Seven sins. Do you have the testicular fortitude for it?

Live stream will start at 10:45pm

Conference News

So-net Entertainment Corp., a Japanese ISP owned by Sony alerted customers about a security breach where an intruder broke into its system and stole worth 100,000 yen (US$1,225) from multiple account holders. Later the representative of So-Net said, “What we’ve done is stopped the So-Net points exchanges and told customers to change their passwords…At this point in our investigations, we have not confirmed any data leakage. We have not found any sign of a possibility that a third party has obtained members’ names, address, birth dates and phone numbers.”

The breach at So-net comes several days after Sony resumed service on its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment online videogame services after a data breach compromised the personal information tied to more than 100 million accounts.

In a warning to users issued on Thursday, So-net said an intruder tried 10,000 times to access the provider’s “So-net” point service, which grants customers reward points that can be exchanged for Sony products and online currency, from the same IP address. So-net said it thinks the intruder had usernames of account holders and then may have used an automated software program to generate passwords until it found the correct one.

As of now, there is no personal data leakage but yes, Sony’s networks around the world are still vulnerable to attack. Because of the string of security issues, this could trigger more hackers to attack its networks. Though there is no evidence that any personal data such as names, addresses, birthdates, or phone numbers were viewed, that still didn’t stop their customers from complaining. Once it found out about the breach, the provider said it halted the redemption service.

They just couldn’t catch a break huh?

Lifestyle News