The industry is always looking for more ways to access an audience and attract new players for their online betting and gambling products. Why? Because they facilitate a greater reach and keeping online gambling up to date with new trends is almost always related to software enhancements. In this case it’s the new product from Apple, the Apple watch that’s both a software and hardware innovation. The Apple Watch launched officially today with the typical media attention and fanfare that all new Apple products get on the market. As users are loyal and new products are always on everyones radar. The ‘Smartwatch’ though launched will not actually be available for buying in stores just yet, though orders have been taken, those who managed to put in an order for a device earlier on had their devices shipped today. Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s Retail Chief thinks that orders will continue to increase throughout the month of May so most likely it will be June by the time they are available in stores online or at flagship stores.
This is a huge development as it will make online gambling even more personal, more so than even mobile as a watch is worn on one’s person much longer and closer. Once the Apple Watch is on the wrists of gamblers there will be a fun, new and less cumbersome way of playing the slots or a game of blackjack or making a bet when it can done on ones wrist.
Many gambling sites have announced that they are developing their sites for the smart watches and will be ready to go once they are available to the wider public. Ladbrokes Australia and William Hill Sports have already announced that they will have apps ready for betting on the launch day of the Apple Watch. Soon many other operating systems will be available on the watch which will take being connected to a whole other level. Imagine that one day soon there could be live dealers and one tap monetary functions all in a tiny device on a gamblers wrist. Online gambling software developer Playtech and online gambling operator Unibet also just announced that they both are investing in and will soon launch sports betting applications for the new Apple Watch which will make watching games and betting all the more exciting!
The Playtech app plan is to expand its omni-channel offering by developing an application similar to the one created by a team of mobile developers who recently introduced the Android sports betting app. Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, said his company is well ahead of its competitors on the launch of the new hardware development. One of those competitors is Unibet, an online gambling operator, has also developed a similar software solution that will let its members stay up to date of the latest developments in sports at the touch of a watch. Ed Nicholson, Head of Unibets UK sportsbook marketing and product operations told media their app would provide customers only with the most relevant content and would make it possible for them to access the information they need more easily than ever before. He said that they expect the Apple Watch users to initially use their device as a means for communication and an information tool. It will give them the opportunity to weed out the wheat from the chaff of all the information that reaches their mobile watch devices, and this will also apply to the information they’ll get on sports betting odds and news.
What’s clear is that once the initial launch hoopla calms down, online gambling will have a whole new field in which to engage itself with players. Playing slots or blackjack from your wrist is something that would sound unbelievable only a few years ago, but as wearable tech comes into play the fantasy has become a reality. So, the future looks bright for online gambling operators and their newly forming intimate relationships with the smartwatch. For industry experts, we are sure they would all say; it’s about ‘time’.
