Today Svenska Spel launched an iPhone app where you can get results from matches and events.
It is interesting and exciting to see that Svenska Spel are among the first operators to develop an iPhone app. You can see your current bets, but you can’t place any bets (probably because Apple wouldn’t allow it).
I’ll use the app for  few days and then write a review.
/Staffan

Gaming VC, an online gaming company with brands like Casino Club, Poker Kings and Betaland, said they will invest up to €7 million during 2010 to build the new businesses.
The have hired former PartyGaming marketing chief Jon Salmon and former Sportingbet head of sportsbook Jim Humberstone for the expansion.
It will be interesting to see if they will use some of the funds to design a great player experience around their offering or if everything will go towards marketing costs.
I believe focusing on the player experience and find ways that will let the …

This year’s International Gaming Expo (IGE), incorporating ICEi, is over and I’m back home. My reflections from the expo are mixed.
Most positive: I was impressed by Net Entertainment and  Betsoft’s games. The quality in their games is really good. It is especially interesting to see that Betsoft incorporate their controls as a part of the game.
Most negative: The Innovative Showcase (it was a new addition addition to IGE 2010 that gave exhibitors the opportunity to present to IGE visitors) was a major dissapointment! Many of the presenters didn’t even show up for their presentations, …

This year’s IGE is just a few weeks away and I’m starting to get excited about the event. It will be great to find out what will be the next big things in the igaming industry this year.
I believe the following topics (among others) will be very important for igaming companies this year:

personalisation
social media
retention
focus on the player
prototyping
innovation
development processes

I’ll be at the IGE all days so if you want to meet up and discuss igaming and user experience. I’m also working on a workshop covering many of the topics above that …

Do you develop gaming software?
Do you prototype?
If you do prototyping then great! If you don’t, then it is time to start doing it!
A prototype is a representative model of the final product.
Why should you build prototypes?
Prototyping is an interative and generative process. You’ll never get the best solution at your first try. Prototyping will give you many new ideas when you work through the prototyping process. It helps you get your ideas into something everyone can play around with. This will generate lots of feedback and ideas for new and …

It is just a little over a month left until the International Gaming Expo takes place in London between the 26th and 28th of January.
It will be very interesting to find out if there are any new innovations within the industry. Maybe some new mobile solutions? Or maybe a new poker game?
Will I see you there? I’ll be there for the whole three days this year. Wanna meet up and discuss user experience, social media and igaming?
Send me an e-mail, staffan.schroder@inuse.se, and let’s set up a meeting :)
/Staffan

It seems like iPhone betting apps are legal in UK. In the UK iTunes Store there is an app called iBetting which lets you place bets on Betfair. Betfair have  a nice API for developers to use to build applications around. This is great and more gaming companies should follow them.
The app has been available on the UK iTunes Store at least a couple of months. I think the user interface could be a lot better than it is in the iBetting app, maybe I’ll just design one of my …

Unibet was awarded European Sports Betting Operator of the Year at the EGR Awards this year.
This week’s redesign is about two minor changes making the sportsbook even better for the players.
Sports selection today

Image 1. This is how the sports selection looks today.
Unibet gives the player the option to find the sports to place bets on in a number of different ways, search, quick links and by using the navigation structure.
First suggested change

Image 2. First suggested change before (1) and after (2)
My first change I would do is to remove the …

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Why should you sign up? You’ll get a newsletter containing:

Blog posts posted last weeks along with comments and relevant links.
Links to industry news concerning igaming, social media and user experience.
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/Staffan

William Hill’s start page today.
It is harder than it needs to be to place a bet at William Hill. I believe this is because the layout of is not focused on the player’s goals. The goals for a player is likely to find bets and place bets.
The design is very clean and looks good but I believe the problem is in the placement of the navigation (under Sports). With William Hill’s navigation structure at the top the player has to scroll down to be able to see matches and odds. I …

Image 1. The steps to place a bet on NordicBet’s iPhone site.
I read on the Gaming Intelligence website that NordicBet has released a iPhone version of their sportsbook together with Mobenga.
I thought I would try it out since I love my iPhone and gaming. So I started Safari on my iPhone and typed in www.nordicbet.com in the address field. But then I got to the ordinary website insted of the one optimized for the iPhone. After looking around a little on the website I found a banner about the iPhone site, clicked …