Named OpenFeint PlayTime, the service will allow multiplayer gameplay, matchmaking, and even real-time voice chat between users playing games on iOS and Android devices.

The service is currently available in a private beta; iOS and Android developers can apply to the program at the OpenFeint Developer page. Further details will be announced when the service is released.

Analyst house Gartner predicts Android will increase its market share to 14% of the global smartphone market in 2012 – surpassing Windows Mobile, Blackberry and iPhone smartphone devices. Android is the operating system behind some of the market’s most popular mobile phones including the Google Nexus One, HTC Desire and Motorola Droid.

Spin3’s games have been developed to work across all versions of Android, enabling its clients to bring its cutting-edge games to the growing number of customers using Android powered devices. Blackjack is now available as a native Android app, and will soon be followed by the Spin³’s entire, award-winning games portfolio.

“The buzz around Android is staggering,” says Matti Zinder, Head of Spin3. “The phones and experience is comparable to that of the iPhone, and the platform is rapidly growing in popularity with developers and consumers. Our games will work on any Android phone and will be future-proofed to support all upcoming versions of the operating system. Android has more momentum than any other platform and is driving the increased sales of smartphones.”

“We are committed to developing the most advanced games for the best and most popular platforms in the market, Zinder added. “That is why we were the first to launch play-for-real games for the Apple iPhone, and now we have developed our games as native apps for Android powered devices. We’re really pleased with how we’ve adapted some of our most popular games, and are sure our clients’ mobile customers will enjoy them too.”

All Slots Mobile Casino will be the first client to launch the games as both play-for-fun and play-for-real native apps. The games can be downloaded for free from the Android Market  by searching for All Slots Mobile Casino. The native Android apps will be rolled out to other Spin³ clients in the coming weeks.

David Brickman, VP Player Affairs at All Slots Casino, says, “Our strong partnership with Spin3 enables us to offer our customers the most dynamic and entertaining casino games on the market’s latest platforms. It’s a winning combination that has helped us grow our customer base and mobile casino business. A successful mobile casino business needs to support Android – and we are delighted to be able to meet this demand.”

The Supercasino app is not a standalone game, but an iPhone client for the Live Roulette and Autowheel TV shows which air, respectively, on Channel 5 and Sky in Britain.

Users can bet in real time using the app while the roulette wheel spins on the television screen, at the same time messaging the on-screen presenter.

“These groundbreaking moves in the mobile space show NetplayTV’s commitment to becoming the leading live gaming operator in the market, giving our customers access via telephone, web or mobile,” says NetPlayTV executive chairman Martin Higginson.

In related news, one of NetPlay’s non-executive directors, Moshe Edree, has stepped down in order to pursue other business interests. He has been replaced by Tim Mickley, who was a managing director at Collins Stewart where he led the gaming team.

This week, analytics firm Research2Guidance predicted a growing business in apps for the second half of the year following reports that mobile app downloads to the value of $2.2 billion were recorded for the first half of 2010, and that this will grow rapidly to achieve $15 billion in revenue by 2013.

The Berlin-based company revealed that 3.8 billion apps were downloaded in the first half of the year compared to 3.1 billion apps for all of 2009, and said that it expected these figures to show continued growth.

Mobile app store PocketGear confirmed the upward trend, and was even more optimistic, claiming that several industry analysts are agreed that mobile app revenues will reach $20 billion by 2013.

The new facility can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store and is powered by the Mobenga mobile technology company.

The app is a downloadable version of the Paddy Power web app which was launched in June this year specifically for customers who wanted access through an iPhone or iPod touch.

“The iPhone since it was introduced now accounts for over 50 percent of sports betting on the Paddy Power mobile channel,” James Grimes, product manager at the company told the Tribune.ie newspaper.

“With the football season about to kick off again, this is an excellent opportunity for our customers to get involved in mobile betting.”

Grimes said that his company was working with Mobenga to develop further technology for Android and other emerging handsets to increase the scope of services to clients.

Some of the features of the Paddy Power Sportsbook App include:

* Full A-Z betting
* Live betting action
* Popular multiples and accumulators available on the betslip.
* Quick links straight from the home page to the most popular events and bets.
* Money Back and Extra Place Specials.
* Full access to personal account settings and betting history
* Fractional / Decimal Odds

Launched in time for the start of the UK football Premier League season, the new app. Is a port of the popular iPhone app already launched by the company, and comes as a tailored, native Betfair experience for iPad owners.

The new app is free to download from the App Store for UK and Irish customers and allows punters to check out the markets, place bets, and monitor their accounts, all on Apple’s touch screen.

The app features slick navigation, portrait and landscape views.

The new game is themed on the high life, with diamonds, fast cars and private jets boosted by a prosperous free games bonus feature giving customers the opportunity to potentially triple their winnings; wild and scatter game symbols based on the jet-set lifestyle of billionaires and thousands of pounds sterling waiting to be won.

Matthew Sunderland, managing director at LadyLuck’s, said: “We are proud to be first-to-market once again with the first ever mobile 50-line slots game. This is an excellent example of the way LadyLuck’s has revolutionised the mobile gaming industry with distinctive and dynamic games.”

The new games can be downloaded directly to punters’ mobile phones from the recently revamped and upgraded Paddy Power Mobile.com site, and include Blackjack, Roulette, Video Poker and a range of multi-line slots games. Among the new releases are popular mobile games such as Crazy Camels, Hi-Lo, Poseidon’s Kingdom, Treasure Island and Nudge 7.

“We will be expanding the range of games available to our customers over the coming weeks and months and will also be integrating the games service with our extremely popular mobile sports products,” said James Grimes, product manager at Paddy Power.

“Our goal is to provide a comprehensive gaming and betting user experience on our mobile platform,” Grimes continued.

“The mobile games service, which we developed with the mobile gaming and lottery provider Probability, has been created with the mobile customer in mind. We have been working on the games products for the past number of months and now we want to share it with all of our customers.

“We plan to have support for our many iPhone customers in a matter of weeks. We are also developing services for Android and other emerging mobile handset devices so that all of our mobile customers can experience our site, and can navigate easily from their handsets.”

Total industry annual wagers via mobile phones are currently set to be worth more than $27.5 billion by 2013, according to independent studies by Juniper Research, and 888sport has added mobile sports book to a technological portfolio that includes a weekly sports show podcast and live racing streamed via iCard.

888sport’s mobile sports book includes an optimised version for iPhone and iPod, but can be used on any mobile phone device. It includes a ‘personal’ service, which prioritises menus based on a player’s previous betting activity. This prioritisation also extends to making sure the latest and ongoing events are available as in-play markets – a substantial growth area in mobile betting.

888sport’s mobile sports book can be accessed at http://mobile.888sport.com on a mobile device, or UK punters can text ’sport’ to 83311 for an immediate link.

LottoSpin will be available in regulated markets worldwide and in the US on a state-by-state basis through a strategic partnership with Pulse Interactive, a US organisation with extensive experience in the US state lottery market.

The total lottery solution enables traditional lottery operators to leverage their brand, infrastructure and acquisition channels and launch their own interactive lottery offerings. It offers mobile and online gaming platforms while utilising mobile, online and land-based point of sale channels, a spokesman said this week.

LottoSpin is also supported with a robust back-office system which offers fully customisable analysis and performance reporting, transaction processing and a 24/7 customer support centre.

Matti Zinder, head of Spin3 said, “Lotteries have to work harder than ever before to compete for players and profits. Interactive lottery services represent the greatest opportunity for the lottery industry, with people becoming more connected than ever before. The extension of traditional lottery services to interactive platforms with LottoSpin offers an exciting new revenue stream and enables operators to reach a much broader audience of players.

“LottoSpin does not compete with or replace lottery operators’ existing systems and infrastructure. Rather it supports and integrates with their existing offerings, leveraging their brand and point of sale network. In addition, the solution enables operators to effectively analyse and manage their interactive lottery offering, providing them with a greater understanding of their players’ gaming habits and enable them to create bespoke offers and maximise their profits.”

In addition to providing interactive lottery platforms, LottoSpin also includes a wide range of instant-win games to enhance the operators’ offering, boost revenues by growing player bases and increase player retention. Keno, Lotto Bonanza, Scratchers and many more games from Spin3’s games portfolio will be available to lottery operators.

LottoSpin enables players to participate in a state or regional lottery draw and collect their winnings on over 2,000 mobile devices, including the iPhone, the BlackBerry and Android devices.  Real-time location-based transaction approval ensures that no tickets are purchased outside local regulated jurisdictions.  Player data and personal information is kept secure with Spin3’s patented SpinLoc system, which ensures that no sensitive information is stored on the handset.

Paul Trowe, President and founder of Pulse Interactive said, “We chose Spin3 as our strategic technology partner because of its long history and reputation for market-leading technology. Pulse’s in-depth market insight in the US and Spin3’s market-leading technology and full-service offering represents the ideal solution for anyone looking to launch a mobile arm to their state lottery.”