In the Air -- The United States' five Federal Communications commissioners voted unanimously this week to support a proposal to eliminate a ban on using mobile phones while flying in an airplane. High-speed Internet access would also be permitted while in flight, and the FCC plans to auction off the airwave rights to companies that want to offer wireless Internet access on commercial aircrafts. Could I-gaming be the next great way to pass the time while in the air?
Turnkey Solution -- Software development company UBA Technology has begun selling proprietary betting exchange poker software through its UBetAnything.com subsidiary. The products were developed as turnkey solutions and are supported by the company's wireless solution, which enables users with Java-enabled phones to access the gaming sites. The poker solution is also available as a white-label product.
Lottery Affiliates -- Camelot, operator of the U.K. National Lottery, has chosen TradeDoubler to provide an affiliate marketing program to bring in new players for its new Play by Text service that lets players purchase tickets for the Lotto, EuroMillions and Daily Play by sending a text message to the central server. TradeDoubler says it has over 1,000 publishers participating in the program.
No Party -- The National Football League has reiterated its position from last year that Super Bowl parties in Las Vegas casinos and sports books that charge admission for entry are a violating of the NFL's broadcast copyright. Last month the league sent a letter to the American Gaming Association stating that it would not permit casinos to charge admission to Super Bowl parties, though it would allow the casinos to continue to show the game. In January 2004, less than a month before the big game, the league sent similar letters to Las Vegas casinos and sports books, prompting a mad scramble for the facilities to change their plans.
.MOBI -- ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has approved the creation of two new domains that are accessible over the Internet. The first, ".mobi," will separate sites that are intended to be accessed via mobile devices from the rest of the Web so that companies can develop separate Web pages with simpler and fewer graphics that will be easier for their mobile customers to download. The second domain, ".jobs," would allow a company to post its job openings at a site with the ".job" extension so that potential employees do not have to hunt through the standard Web site to find them.