Innocore, the company formerly known as Densitron, is launching six boards based on Intel GLE960 and GME965 mobile chipsets alongside a range of low-cost, high-quality metal enclosures suitable for all the company's gaming board products.

The World Trade Organisation has imposed sanctions of $21 million a year against the USA in favour of Antigua and Barbuda in a long-running dispute over online gambling.

UK Government ministry, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, (DCMS) has yet to announce its decision regarding the future of a so-called ‘supercasino' that had been proposed for Manchester by the Casino Advisory Panel. The project was stalled by the prime minister Gordon Brown, who called for "a period of reflection and review".

Casino operator Harrah's Entertainment has now secured all the regulatory approvals needed for private equity buyers Apollo Management and Texas Pacific to complete a $17.1 billion buyout, which is expected to complete early in 2008. It has taken almost a year for the purchase to reach this stage.

The ruling political party in Japan intends to work with other political parties and submit a bill to the Japanese government aimed at legalising casinos this year, according to Jiji Press and the Macau Daily Times.

Spanish playing card maker Fournier is celebrating its 140th anniversary in 2008, and the year got off to a good start, for Fournier with figures for 2007 showing a 28 percent increase, year-on-year, in sales to casinos.

Operators of a wide range of gambling businesses across the world have been hit by negative effects of smoking bans.

Bobby L. Siller has been named to serve on the WMS Industries Board of Directors, its Gaming Compliance Committee, and its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

The Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Viktor Zubkov, has signed the final ruling which sets up a 20 million sq metre gambling zone in Azov-City, in southern Russia.

The Nevada Gaming Commission has voted unanimously to permit Italian-owned Lottomatica and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, GTECH Corporation and GTECH Global Services Corporation, to own an interest in a Nevada licensee Atronic International and Atronic Americas.

Money Centers of America, , Inc. which provides cash access, transaction management systems, and financial networks for the gaming industry has achieved compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard.

Cyberview Technology Inc. has been granted a US patent "Modular Entertainment and Gaming Systems Configured To Consume and Provide Network Services".

Macau, which now has 27 casinos open for business, is expected to record gross revenues of some 83 billion patacas ($10 billion) in 2007, according to a report in The Macao Post Daily. This represents a 46.5 percent increase, year on year.

Atronic has entered into a new agreement with Endemol International BV to develop slot machines based on Endemol's popular TV show Deal Or No Deal. Atronic will continue to manufacture, market and distribute Deal Or No Deal themed products world-wide. Atronic's previous licence, which has now expired, was through a third party.

Server-based gaming and video lottery specialist ACE Interactive has  promoted Håkan Andersson to the post of General Manager R&D.

Bangor University's Centre for Advanced Software Technologies (CAST Ltd) has become the first organisation in the UK to gain approval from the Gambling Commission to test gaming machines for legal  compliance. 

Las Vegas Sands Corp. has arranged credit of almost 5.5 billion Singapore Dollars (US$ 3.8 billion) to fund the development of the Marina Bay Sands resort casino in Singapore.

After an intensive, six-month trial of banknote readers, MEI's CASHFLOW will be specified for all new machines bought for Regency Entertainment Group's Greek casinos: Thessaloniki in Northern Greece; and Mont Parnes in Athens.

Money Controls reports record sales of its products in the region, since appointing leading Czech distributor Jamp as its official distribution partner for Slovakia and the Czech Republic last year.

FSN Display, the South Korean company that researches, develops, and manufactures A/D boards, media players and open frame monitors, is bringing its portfolio of products to ICE 2008, the International Casino Exhibition, for the first time.

The Aurora Hotel and Casino del Sol has opened in Santo Domingo East, following an investment of more than $20 million. The casino offers 250 slot machines, 23 table games, a poker room and a VIP room for high rollers, and is part of a complex that includes a 50-room hotel, two restaurants and three conference rooms as well as swimming pool, gym, spa, steam room and whirlpool.

Casino International's Editor, Jon Bruford, had to admit defeat while running the Las Vegas Marathon, scale back his ambitions and settle for completing the half-marathon.

East European gaming operator Ritzio Entertainment Group has acquired three ‘city casinos' in Prague, Czech Republic, adding a new "retail gaming" format to the portfolio of 33 gaming clubs that it operates in Czech cities. The three small-size venues each include several electronic roulettes, table games, and slot machines.

Henry Krawczyk has joined Orion Gaming as Director of International Sales. He has over twenty years of gaming industry experience, having been responsible for Europe, former CIS, The Middle East and North Africa for another international manufacturer.

Major players, including Las Vegas Sands and Harrah's are taking an interest in the bill put forward by Governor Deval Patrick that may lead to the creation of three resort-style casinos in the state of Massachusetts. The CEOs of both organisations attended a one-day, pre-Christmas legislative hearing, and were supportive of the plan - although Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands made the point that three casinos was too many.

Michael K. Prescott has been promoted to Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of GTECH Corporation. Prescott is responsible for managing and overseeing all legal matters for the company, including legal strategy, legal compliance, litigation, regulatory matters, and global security.

Following scare stories that croupiers could be exposed to lead poisoning through handling casino chips, Gaming Partners International (GPI) commissioned independent scientific tests that have revealed its Paulson gaming chips are safe to use in a casino environment.

The first legal casino could soon be built in Israel as part of a Tourism-Ministry-led development in the city of Eilat.

A brand new monitor specially designed for casinos with low ceilings, a raft of new business and a new plant in Uruguay – things are definitely moving forward for Signs4U. Martin Spies, one of the company's owners, is understandably pleased with business, as he told Casino International.

Hans J Kruft, International Business Development Manager for Geutebrück GmbH looks at the needs of a casino…

Providing digital CCTV for casinos is a serious business and a real technological challenge because of the large number of cameras involved; the demand for continuous real time recording 24/7, and increasingly, for retention periods of 14 days or more.

Detroit's MotorCity Casino Hotel, one of North America's largest independently-owned casinos, recently completed phase two of an impressive $300million expansion of its existing facility. Gregg Solomon, CEO of the casino's holding company, tells Casino International all about the development…

The hugely ambitious Gran Scala project, an amusement and casino resort destination planned for Aragon in north-eastern Spain, is raising some eyebrows and generating quite a buzz in the casino industry. British-based consortium International Leisure Development's Christian Colus explains what the project means, to Casino International.

Atlanta-based slot manufacturer Cadillac Jack has been steadily gaining recognition in gaming circles for some time. What makes the company tick? Kunal Mishra, Vice President - Product Management And Marketing, explains to Casino International.

The casino and gaming industry is a hard nut to crack for new companies. You need dedication, experience, a great product, superb distribution and after sales service, and more than a little luck.

Aristocrat's new Viridian slot cabinet boasts an outstanding array of technological attractions. The cabinet makes its European debut at ICE and the company is expecting great things from this exciting machine.

Viridian is the new slot cabinet from Aristocrat and it is bursting with increased power and enough nips and tucks – both inside and out – to ensure its place on slot floors for years to come.

JCM has introduced an innovation to the gaming floor which could have real, lasting impact on the way table games are accounted. Trident allows the operator to have a bill validator on any table game, which in turn introduces another level of security into accounting, not to mention the myriad other benefits of a validator. JCM’s Gwen Mathis and Tom Nieman talked Casino International through this superior product.

As the second biggest gaming operator in the world, expectations on what MGM's first property in Macau would deliver were high in the industry, both in Macau and overseas.

Bueno, después del excelente evento de Londres donde ICE 2008 fue realmente apoteósico, y con deseos de cargar las baterías nos encontramos rumbo a Latinoamerica, merodeando por la bella Andalucía de nuestros antepasados.

Well, we’re hoping for a fantastic three days during the London Shows, especially ICE 2008, where great effort is always displayed by all and sundry. Afterward, with a serious need to recharge batteries, we will find ourselves on the way to Latin America via Andalusia, land of our ancestors.

Have you ever noticed that despite the best advice and counsel, only experiencing a situation makes it real. We can only hope that the consequences are minimal.  Close to home, for example, Datateam Publishing Ltd, the parent company of Casino International and its sister leisure publications, EuroSlot and Park World, purchased the magazine group from the former World’s Fair publishing house in June 2001.

2008 promises much, with new casinos springing up seemingly everywhere and new territories opening up and moving toward regulated gaming.