iPad good for online gambling?

Internet gambling industry expert and veteran executive Clive Hawkswood has opined that new hardware technology such as the internet-connected tablet is set to boost action on interactive online casino games like roulette and blackjack. This will herald an increase in the use of gambling apps for tablet devices, he predicts.

Hawkswood is the chief executive of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, and says that growing numbers of punters  will use the latest computer-driven hardware such as the iPad to place wagers on events and play games at internet casinos.

“Gambling is following … the general trend in the consumers’ seemingly endless desire for innovative technologies, which they use in all aspects of their daily lives for both business and pleasure,” he noted, adding that new easy-to-use technology such as tablets combine “the best features of PCs and mobiles”, and make it much easier for punters to wager on specific outcomes.

Hawkswood said that those who use the devices benefit from it’s characteristics of being “…rapid, global and without geographical limitations”.

He reported that research recently carried out by the respected Gartner group had found that there will be 19.5 million tablets sold globally by the end of 2010. This figure is expected to achieve 181 percent growth by the end of 2011, and pass the 208 million units level by 2014, driven by consumer popularity and improvements in downloading and broadband availability and speed.

“The restrictions of the pre-digital age have been swept away; it’s a cliché, but this truly is the 24/7 society and consumers want their products and services, and accessibility to those, to reflect that,” Hawkswood observed.