Wifi Revolution

The name of the game in communications is mobility, more than ever. And it pervades every corner of society, from schools to shopping to entertainment to business and beyond. The sporting world has been among the biggest promoters of mobility, suggesting that fans need to be able to get score updates and race winners, change their fantasy lineups, and check out the latest news about their favorite players, all on their mobile handsets. Well, if fans can see who won races, why not offer them the ability to place bets on those races from their wireless handsets as well?

 

After all, mobility is nothing more than extension of the familiar into a new environment. That’s just what Sona Mobile and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) had in mind when they entered into a partnership. 

 

NYRA is the owner/operator of the three largest racetracks in New York — Belmont Park, Saratoga, and Aqueduct, and Sona Mobile provides secure wireless solutions for gaming and entertainment applications, as well as access to financial and enterprise information.

 

The first stage in the partnership will include a Web-based wagering platform that will allow bettors to access race information in real time and securely place wagers via the Web. Once that has been successfully implemented, the two parties plan on offering streaming video of the races, as well as real-time account information and access, as well as additional information, such as last-minute scratches. Both stages are on pace to be completed by the end of Q1 2007.

 

“Our team is very impressed by the performance and functionality of Sona’s software applications for gaming and entertainment, and we are excited to announce our joint initiative aimed at creating the NYRA Web-based wagering site,” said Charles Hayward, NYRA’s President and CEO. “By providing NYRA customers with online wagering capabilities and real-time access to our content, NYRA will not only generate incremental revenues but also boost its brand recognition.”

 

In addition, NYRA and Sona will explore how to expand the application to include mobile wagering via mobile devices.

 

This is not Sona’s first foray into the horse racing world, as it already has a partnership with Daily Racing Form (DRF), a national newspaper and online publication dedicated to the coverage of horse racing to provide wireless access to racing content from DRF. In addition to its applications for the entertainment and gaming industries, Sona also has designed mobile applications for the enterprise and financial communities to enrich the business processes for those environments. As in the case of its NYRA agreement, Sona’s other applications have been built with the end user in mind and are designed for real world, not theoretical deployment. They are designed to offer maximum performance without sacrificing security, and are customizable and easily integrated into existing solutions.

 

To learn about other innovations in wireless (or wireline) technology, plan now to be in Fort Lauderdale January 23-26 for INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, where the leaders of the communications industry will be on hand to lend their expertise to you. 

 

 

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