There’s an app for that: Casinos on alert for card counters using iPhones
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store
File under “It was only a matter of time”: The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Nevada gaming authorities are warning casinos to be on the lookout for blackjack card counters getting an assist from their iPhones. While card counting itself is not banned in Nevada, the use of an assistive technology is a felony (!), and apps like Card Counter or A Blackjack Card Counter make it much easier for the math-impaired. ABCC’s ’stealth mode,’ which uses vibration to alert the user when the time is right for a big bet, is particularly head-achey for casino security.
Nevada casinos don’t have any instances yet of gamblers being kicked out or arrested for iPhone use — the initial warning was from California authorities, who spotted card-counter apps in use at a Northern California casino and thought it prudent to raise the alarm. The lure of easier blackjack winnings may be too tempting for some people to pass up, but the consequence of this iCheating may be that we all have to check our iPhones before heading to the blackjack tables.
Aside from the logistical challenges of an iPhone ban in casinos (”Sure, I don’t need my phone, my family knows that I’ll be here at the quarter slots for the next five hours”), this is a fascinating example of how the App Store is turning us all into denizens of the Matrix, with skills and information on demand and jacked in, literally at our fingertips. Need to level a bookshelf? Fine. Want to identify local birds? Done. Get your garage mojo in gear? Can do. Learn a language? Of course. Adding the ability to move money from the casino’s pocket into yours with better odds than usual seems like a natural next step… and another ‘disruptive technology’ is going to come into conflict with a long-established, politically and economically powerful industry. Let’s watch.
Update: Commenter ‘brainopera’ contributed his “Matrix moment” — have you had yours yet?
Thanks Matt
TUAWThere’s an app for that: Casinos on alert for card counters using iPhones originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iLounge Pavilion to host iPod, iPhone devs at CES 2010
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, Software, Apple, Developer, iPhone
The sharks are swimming the waters around Macworld Expo. They must smell blood: first we hear that Apple may be headed to CES, and now iLounge has announced that they’re sponsoring a “pavilion” at next year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I’ve never been, but you have to think that there have always been at least some iPod and iPhone-related displays at CES, even if most of the hoopla is a few states away at Macworld. But now CES is making its move, apparently. With Apple pulling out of Macworld for good (and that event focusing on the Mac), CES and iLounge may be looking to get in on some of the iPod and Apple action.
In fact, there’s a FAQ for the event that says exactly that — CEA heard that exhibitors were planning on skipping Macworld, and weren’t sure about appearing at CES, so this pavilion is designed to pull exactly those people in.
Obviously all of these events are almost a full 12 months off, and anything can happen in between now and then. But CES and iLounge apparently aren’t wasting any time trying to nab some iPod-related attention away from IDG’s Macworld sans Apple.
Continue reading iLounge Pavilion to host iPod, iPhone devs at CES 2010
TUAWiLounge Pavilion to host iPod, iPhone devs at CES 2010 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Smule’s Zephyr sends snowy messages around the world
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Internet, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
As much as I hate to do it, I’m always willing to admit when I’m wrong, and I was wrong about Ocarina. Not about the app itself, per se — I still think it’s one of the silliest, most pointless apps I’ve see on the App Store. But it has been nothing but popular since its release, so apparently lots of people out there are into it. That’s fine — I’m willing to accept that there are best-selling apps out there that I think are dumb.
And maybe this will be another one: Smule, the company behind Ocarina, has decided to follow up with a new app called Zephyr (not to be confused with the MacBook cooling system) that seems just as silly to me. You can draw out messages with an airy sound-and-snowflake interface, and then send those messages blowing around the world (represented, in the official video above, by Las Vegas) to random people who, if they like your messages, will pass them on around the Internet. “What’s the point?” you might say, and in that opinion, I’d agree with you. There are lots of ways to send messages around the world, and more than a few of them are quite free and will let you be clearer than drawing snow with wind sounds in the background.
But then again, I didn’t see a point to Ocarina, and that made plenty of money. Zephyr is available on the App Store right now for 99 cents. And if you do jump in and buy it, make sure to tell us exactly why in the comments below.
TUAWSmule’s Zephyr sends snowy messages around the world originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MS and Vegas Apple Stores: Your reports
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail
Apple opened two new Apple Stores last weekend — one in Ridgeland, Mississippi (that state’s first store) and another in sunny Las Vegas (Nevada’s fourth and the third in Vegas). As usual, we asked any TUAW operatives who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. Reader Dave took some nice shots in Mississippi.
So, did you go, and more importantly, what did you get? Let us know in the comments. Here’s hoping you scored a T-shirt!
In related news, there’s an interesting map at ifoAppleStore that overlays Apple Store locations with population density in the US. Of course it makes sense to put stores where the most people are, and that’s just what Apple has done.
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Mississippi, Las Vegas Apple Stores set to open
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail
Apple plans to open two new retail stores in the US this Saturday, August 30th. One in Ridgeland, Mississippi and another in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Apple Store Renaissance at Colony Park (Ridgeland) will open at 10:00 AM. The store is located at 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, next to Williams Sonoma and J Crew. You can find full travel directions here. This will be Mississippi’s first Apple Store.
Apple Store The Forum Shops will also open at 10:00 AM in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. You’ll find it at The Forum Shops At Caesars, at 3500 Las Vegas Blvd., South. Full travel directions are here. This will be Nevada’s fourth store, and the third in Sin City.
If you visit either store over the weekend, please let us know! We’d love to see your pictures and stories.
[Via ifoAppleStore]
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Mississippi, Las Vegas Apple Stores set to open
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail
Apple plans to open two new retail stores in the US this Saturday, August 30th. One in Ridgeland, Mississippi and another in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Apple Store Renaissance at Colony Park (Ridgeland) will open at 10:00 AM. The store is located at 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, next to Williams Sonoma and J Crew. You can find full travel directions here. This will be Mississippi’s first Apple Store.
Apple Store The Forum Shops will also open at 10:00 AM in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. You’ll find it at The Forum Shops At Caesars, at 3500 Las Vegas Blvd., South. Full travel directions are here. This will be Nevada’s fourth store, and the third in Sin City.
If you visit either store over the weekend, please let us know! We’d love to see your pictures and stories.
[Via ifoAppleStore]
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