Eurobet Mobile -- iTouch, content supplier for mobile phone networks, has signed a three-year deal to provide mobile gambling services to British bookmaker Coral Eurobet. The initial product launch will feature four fixed-odds betting games, while several other betting applications--including a sports book--are expected to go live later this year. Coral and iTouch will share a portion of the service's revenues with Zone4Play, which in February signed an agreement to supply its mobile gambling solutions to iTouch.
Zone4Play Provides -- Multi-platform gaming solutions provider Zone4Play last week announced its involvement in two U.S. projects. A deal with Cablevision Systems Corporation enables Cablevision's iO digital cable television customers to subscribe to a package of over 50 interactive games for $4.95 per month. Zone4Play is providing Cablevision with solutions that will enable it to offer a new "Play Per Day" option through which customers can play classic games like "Asteroids Mega," "Tetris," "Slingo Millennum" and "5 Card Slingo" for 24 hours at $1.95 per game. The second project entails Zone4Play providing an Internet-based suite of single and multi-player games and play-for-fun casino games Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises, a telecommunications company.
UK-Style Bingo -- I-gaming software provider Playtech has developed a new U.K.-style 90-ball online bingo game to complement the U.S.-style 75-ball bingo game it introduced 18 months ago. The new game is tailored for the U.K. market and aimed at existing licensees on the mainland as well as bingo operators in general. The 90-ball game entails three rows of numbers and three winners in each game: the first to complete one row, the first to complete two rows, and the first to complete all three rows. The game also features authentic Cockney dealer voices and traditional British bingo ball-outs (like "Duck and Dive 25") in addition to 3-D animated graphics, chat functions, game histories and other features. It will debut at Web sites in the Bingoland network, which includes Baraka Bingo, Bingo777, Kiwi Bingo, Prestige Bingo, Tiki Bingo and others.
Running of the Betbull -- The European Betting Exchange (also known as "betbull") has launched its live person-to-person horseracing-only betting exchange at www.betbull.de. The German horse racing industry will receive a share of betbull's commissions. The company calls its product a cooperative between racing associations and bookmakers and says it currently has exclusive partnerships with the racing associations of Munich and Baden Baden and expects other racing associations and bookmakers to join in the coming weeks. The partnerships give betbull exclusive rights to promote its betting exchange at race tracks.
Intercasino Euro -- InterCasino's Euro casinos (espana.intercasino.com, france.intercasino.com, italia.intercasino.com and deutsch.intercasino.com) have added a series of exclusive new games. Powered by CryptoLogic's version 6 software, the new games are available for play with the euro currency in the Spanish, French, Italian and German languages. Among the new games are Rapid Fire slots (a six-machine progressive), Casino Solitaire, Super Fun 21, Pontoon, Casino War, Bonus Video Poker and Fruit Machines.
China Busts -- The Chinese government has reportedly shut down a total 1,361 Web sites that offer gambling over the Internet and seized a total of over $200,000 in profits from some of those sites. Police are said to have investigated 42 criminal cases related to Internet gambling, apprehended 62 suspects and confiscated 183 servers.
Football365 on 3 -- British betting company ukbetting has launched its own branded, stand-alone channel on cellular operator 3's live video mobile news and entertainment channel, Today on 3. Ukbetting's football content unit, Football365, will manage a site that will provide access to wallpapers, ringtones, editorial content, competitions, quizzes, animations and match previews.
Grounded -- Due to a lack of interest from passengers, low-cost airline Ryanair is giving up on its experiment in offering movies, music, games and other entertainment in-flight through its handheld digEplayer devices. The company launched the service at a price of £5 per flight in November 2004, and at the time, CEO Michael O'Leary and other company spokespersons said they believed in-flight gambling could potentially generate significant new revenues. In-flight gambling applications, however, were never developed.
Emperor Neptune -- King Neptune's Casino, which has since 2003 boasted an efficient Japanese-language customer support system for players using its English language Web site, has launched a Japanese version of its casino to meet the demand of its Japanese players. Powered by Microgaming's Viper software, the Japanese casino features 50 games in the Japanese language and another 100 that are only partially translated from English (though they will eventually be converted to completely Japanese versions). King Neptune's Casino is part of the Trident Entertainment Group.
Welcome Aboard -- California-based race wagering and content provider Youbet.com has appointed prominent horse racing legal expert and former California Horse Racing Board chairman Roger Licht to its independent wagering compliance committee. The committee provides ongoing insight and independent auditing of Youbet's compliance procedures and policies.