Mobile Gambling Research -- Juniper Research, an England-based provider of business intelligence, recently completed a detailed study on mobile gambling services and their potential for growth. Juniper predicts that by 2006, the mobile gambling industry could reap around $5.7 billion, with casinos taking $0.9 billion, mobile lotteries and competitions taking $2.8 billion, and mobile betting taking $2 billion. Juniper conducted similar research for the mobile adult content industry, projecting that it should earn around $791 million by 2006.
Bingo World Championship -- Bingo Entertainment, an online gaming marketing and management company, will sponsor the third annual Bingo World Championship online at www.bingoworldchampionship.com. The size of the tournament has doubled since last year, with 144 final contestants and 12 games participating this year, including Bingo Gala (bingogala.com), Bingo Splash (bingosplash.com), Bingo Empire (bingoempire.com), and more. The first of three qualifying rounds begins Friday, with 12 contestants from each game advancing to the finals on March 1. Five thousand dollars in cash and prizes will be paid out during the March 1finals.
Condolences -- Gary Hoyle, Marketing Director for SportingBet's North American division, passed away while sleeping last week. Doctors suspect a heart attack, but an autopsy has not yet been completed. Hoyle had apparently seemed to be in fine health, and the sad news is taken by Sportingbet as a complete shock.
Affiliate Site's New Languages -- AngelCiti Entertainment announced today that its affiliate Web site, www.CasinoPaycheck.com, is now available in Chinese, Spanish, and English. AngelCiti says that over 1,100 affiliates have membership to Casino Paycheck, driving tens of millions of dollars to AngelCiti sites in net handle. AngelCiti expects the implementation of the two languages will lead to many more affiliates in the expanding Spanish and Chinese markets.
LegalPlay in Europe -- LegalPlay Entertainment Inc, the Vancouver-based operator of SkillPoker.com, says it's seeking a license in European jurisdictions so that it may launch a poker site targeting the E.U. market. The traditional poker site, www.PokerPass.com, will not accept bets from U.S or Canadian citizens.
Gambling Research Center -- The Australian National University in Canberra will soon open a research center that will study gambling habits. The research center is the result of the Productivity Commission's recommendation after reviewing gambling on the continent and finding that Australians spent $169 billion on gambling last year.
Law Suits -- The AFP in South Africa reports that the Association of Tennis Professionals will begin developing a system to prevent the spread of inside information. The decision is a response to rumors six week ago that speculated that match fixing was threatening the integrity of the sport. The new system will be designed to affect anyone who might obtain and then spread information, such as guests, media, medics and VIPs.
Internet Explorer Flaws -- Internetnews.com reports that Liu Die Yu, a Chinese security researcher has discovered five serious flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer versions 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0. Yu posted information about the flaws on a newsgroup called Bugtraq, warning that the errors could lead to system access, exposure of sensitive information, cross site scripting and security bypass if hackers were to exploit the vulnerabilities. Secunia, an independent security consultant, calls the flaws extremely critical and advises IE users to disable active scripting until Microsoft issues a patch. Microsoft regularly releases fixes on the second Tuesday of every month, but says it will release them earlier if active exploits are circulating and causing major damage.