Inspired Broadcast Networks is launching a new functionality on the itbox. Inspired is now able to offer tailored content depending on venue and will now allow pub managers and landlords to manage their own content according to customer demand.

Japan Cash Machine (JCM) in cooperation with KIC Products has created the new "JCM Waffletechnology Bill Validator Cleaning Card".

Face Place has developed a solution for coin handling allowing it to expand into token-only locations and export sales opportunities.

The Australasian Gaming Expo last month saw the unveiling of a revolutionary new bill/ticket acceptor from Money Controls.

Club Funfair from Reflex Gaming for the UK market, is a full featured machine offering extra depth and strategy via the 1-12 gamble facility.

For companies looking to create a unique look or perhaps to reduce the assembly costs of their moving message display, Forge Europa can supply a tailor-made LED dot matrix display to specific requirements.

Sound Leiusre will unveil an exciting new traditional-design jukebox at this year’s PLASA show – powered by an iPod. The Xi jukebox is a statement piece of furniture, featuring an ever-changing light display, which can be frozen on any colour to match a particular décor.

The popular Video Venue Favourites service from DT Productions/Soundnet is now available online and the first 20 tracks selected are free.

Gamexpo 2006 took place in the brand-new Syma Sport and Event Centre in Budapest, Hungary, from September 12-14. The hall was well received by exhibitors and proved to be a suitable venue for the future.

It would be hard not to notice the sudden gold rush that has embraced the remaining amusement scene – a mad dash to grab land and stake out property. For amusement, the idea that we are worth anything is unusual and slightly disconcerting; many of the new investors are looking at consolidation.

The London Preview takes place from October 11-12 at the Novotel in Hammersmith. This year’s show promises to be one of the best ever, according to organisers Howard & Wikberg.

There is no break anticipated in the work schedule of Gennaro Parlati, in charge of institutional relations at ACMI, the Gaming Machines Manufacturers’ Association, who also devised and is running the ProGameShow.

The second edition of ProGameShow, the event dedicated to Italian and international gaming and gambling, ended last month with the presentation of awards to the best participants in the entertainment-machines sector.

In a victorious test case for Florida operators, a jury acquitted Gail Fontaine, an operator and the president of the Florida Arcade Association, of illegal gambling charges in late August.

Outsourcing of American jobs has long been a controversial topic in the manufacturing segment of the US job market. Currently, mainland China and Taiwan are both affecting the American amusement industry’s employment and production in the areas of low-cost exports, legal parts and illegal counterfeits.

Global Payment Technologies (GPT) showed its new, lower-cost bill validator, Falcon, at the EELEX Show in Moscow and the Entertainment Industry Exhibition in Kiev.

Unicum Group, a major distributor and supplier of gaming equipment in Russia and CIS countries, participated in the international gaming exhibition Entertainment Industry, which took place in Kiev on September 20-22.

Inspired by its recent success at the World of Games exhibition in Russia, AstroSystems has continued to push forward in Eastern Europe by showing its range of products at both EELEX and the Kiev shows.

Merkur Gaming has proudly announced the signing of a licensing contract with the Walt Disney company in Hammersmith, London.

Nine months after the new gaming law came into force in Germany, AWP game designs which are not based on earlier models are starting to appear on the market.

The manufacturers of play consoles are expecting a record year too, according to BITKOM, the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media.

From September 1 Funworld ag has a new address. Not that the Photo Play manufacturer has actually moved, rather its address has been changed by the Post Office.

The plenary session of the Council of the Valencian Autonomous Government has approved the regulation covering machines for amusement and games of chance, and that covering gaming casinos within the autonomous region of Valencia.

Madrid could become one of the first autonomous regions to regulate betting and telematic gaming, a method of gaming that is broadly accepted internationally, thus filling the legal vacuum that currently exists in this regard and bringing legal security and transparency to those involved.

In the last Consejo de Ministros (Council of Ministers) held on July 28, the government approved a financial allocation of E15.14m to Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE), the National Spanish Organisation for the Blind, to compensate for the operating loss sustained in 2004.

The MGA-New Park group presented its financial results in its annual report for 2005. The business activities of MGA-New Park currently cover various aspects of the amusement sector, from the development of games to their distribution and operation.

The Culture Market Bureau of Jiangxi has revealed statistics relating to working conditions for the leisure sector in 11 locations within the province.

The Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism has recently established the Relevant Implementation Order and Implementation Rules for the Game Industry Promotion law.

Local authorities in Lishui City, in the Zhejiang Province of China, have taken further action to regulate the leisure market in order to enhance the control of internet cafes and gaming establishments.

The strong growth of the emerging Asian market has made it a target for most casino operators, but of particular interest has been Japan.

Money Controls has appointed Ken Dharwar as technical sales manager based in the Oldham, UK office. He brings over 20 years of wide-ranging industry experience to Money Controls' team serving the gaming, amusement, car parking and vending markets.

Heber Limited, designer and manufacturer of electronic control systems for the gaming industry, has launched its Internet Knowledge Base.

Suzo International has agreed a distribution contract with Visaton. Visaton is a German-based company that manufactures high-end speakers.

Clarion ATE, organiser of the Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI), has begun its marketing campaign to help visitors to the 2007 expo negotiate their way around the new-look show, which will take place across both the ground floor and level one of London’s Earls Court Exhibition Centre on January 23-25, 2007.

Astra Games will launch an array of new games at Preview 2007, introducing product for Section 34 and Section 16/21, in both single and multiplayer formats.

3M Touch Systems has appointed Jon Temple as gaming sales manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Formerly sales manager for the UK and Ireland, Temple will be responsible for managing key customer accounts, developing new business and coordinating sales activities for gaming within the region.

Hot Games will host the first Hot Games Show (HGS) from November 3-5, 2006 at Taichung, Taiwan. HGS will feature exhibitors from the coin-op sector, including Taiwan- Astro, Subsino, CYE, Feiloli and more.

Quentin Stott and Kevin Temple succeeded in their mission to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Meningitis UK in memory of Quentin and Surjit Stott’s son Dylan.

Essnet Interactive, the Swedish server-based gaming company and wholly owned subsidiary of Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ALL:ASX), has announced that it will be called ACE Interactive AB (ACE).

Visitors looking for bespoke solutions for bill acceptance, coin acceptance and coin payout should make Money Controls’ stand A41 their first stop at FER. Money Controls will show a revolutionary new bill/ticket acceptor for the gaming industry – Ardac Elite.

West London-based amusement machine manufacturer/distributor Brent Sales/Namco Europe has described this summer as its busiest ever, citing the huge demand for Namco Time Crisis 4 and Raw Thrills’ Super Bikes as the main reason behind the successful trading period.

TLC Industries Inc presented its new LCD game cabinet at the AAMA Distributor Gala in Itasca, Illinois on July 28. Recently field-tested with Incredible Technologies’ new Silver Strike Bowler’s Club ’07, early reports indicate it is a real winner with players.

The CFA expo, which was due to take place in Egypt last month, was postponed due to the bombing in the Lebanon and political unrest in the region.

After recently welcoming in a new managing director, the UK’s leading distributor, RLMS Sales, has also made some other big changes following a recent move to new premises.

Merit Entertainment has announced that officers from the Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) and local police officers raided five companies in Panyu and Guangzhou, China, on August 8, seizing copies of Merit hardware and software, documents, records, and over 250 illegal gaming machines.

ICE 2007 is set to welcome more South American buyers than ever before, following the announcement of a joint promotional agreement between the London show organisers, Clarion ATE, and Monografie S.A., the team behind South America’s SAGSE exhibitions.

After 10 years of highly successful partnership, AstroSystems and Eurocoin have signed a significant extension to their distribution agreement that will see the companies working together on the sales, service and support of the Global Bill Acceptor (GBA) range of banknote validators across Europe.

Gamestec, the UK’s leading gaming and amusement machine operator, has announced plans for a national Deal Or No Deal Tournament across its Gamesnet terminals following the successful launch of the official Deal Or No Deal quiz game, which is based on the hit daytime TV show and hosted by family favourite Noel Edmonds.

Casinos in Russia and the Ukraine have testified to the quality and level of performance of the MEI Cashflow SC83 note acceptor ahead of EELEX. This follows a period of highly successful trials with casinos throughout the region.

It is now even easier for Photo Play players to keep up with their scores and those of their international co-players. On linked terminals, results are synchronised once a day. But should a player not be at their Photo Play terminal, it could well be that co-players beat their well-earned top score unnoticed.

In a move to improve recognition of its Strachan brand worldwide, Milliken Woollen Speciality Products is introducing a global offer. From this month, the world’s top snooker cloth manufacturer has consolidated its range, with high-performance 6811 Tournament cloth featuring a blue-gold edge and 6811 Club carrying red-gold edging.

Paul Valente from Kent-based Quality Amusements has reported a 60 percent increase in jukebox cashbox since siting the innovative Milestones in Music boxes from Sound Leisure over the summer.

Pan Amusements, a world leader in the manufacture of electronic shooting galleries, is once again proving to be one of the UK’s top exporters of amusements, with recent orders from Russia and Iran.

RCI Integrity Services (RCIIS), the not-for-profit subsidiary of Racing Commissioners International, announced last month that it has formed an alliance with the largest independent testing lab for gambling systems – Gaming Laboratories International, Inc. (GLI) – to provide independent security testing for pari-mutuel wagering systems hosting or wagering into domestic American pools.

Suzo Americas, part of the global Suzo Happ group, has opened a new Freeport distribution centre.

GPT has announced that it has appointed Novoparts KFT as a distribution and service centre for Hungary and Romania.

TAB-Austria’s Online Terminal Management (OTM) system is proving to be a great success. Since its launch in the summer of 2005, a total of 15 premium games have been designed and released online free of charge to those who have signed up for an OTM account.

Gextech chairman Mark Campbell has confirmed that the company is poised to export its Fantastic League concept to the global market, with licensing agreements in place for the Middle East and Scandinavia.

Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. has announced that it moved last month to new premises in west London.

Japan Cash Machine Germany (GmbH) President Kazuito Kawase and Operations Manager Marcus Schmitz, signed the formal registration documents for the new subsidiary JCMBulgaria, last month.

Tiscali, the internet and broadband company, has signed a two-year deal with open-server-based gaming, betting and entertainment company, Inspired Broadcast Networks.

Sometimes it feels as though we work in a very small industry along the lines of a large, dysfunctional family. We can be fiercely competitive when it comes to business but, when push comes to shove and someone is in trouble, it is impressive how quickly people rally round.