The world’s first betting app for the iPhone has passed Apple’s stringent vetting criteria and will go live on the App Store today, Siliconrepublic.com has learned.
Betfair, home to one of the world’s largest betting communities, is the first established betting company to release a sports betting App on the platform.
Initially available in Ireland and the UK to Betfair customers, the app brings the Betfair betting experience to iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users.
“Betfair’s iPhone App takes advantage of the handsets’ multi-touch interface and high-resolution screen, offering our iPhone customers the same core exchange functionality as the main Betfair site,” said Charles Farrell, marketing manager at Betfair Ireland.
“Thanks to Apple’s incredible innovation, the iPhone raises the bar in terms of mobile gaming, which allows Betfair to deliver an industry first and demonstrates our ability to adapt to new technologies.
“At Betfair, we’re passionate about mobile and continually innovate and improve our product range,” Farrell said.
Applications provide greater speed and performance than browser-based products. In building the app, Farrell said the focus was on the user experience, making the app not only intuitive but easy to use. The app enables customers to study the market and put their bets on as simply as possible.
The new app represents an industry first: using GPS to locate and verify a customer’s location before they are permitted to bet.
Farrell adds: “Our registered mobile users increased 40pc in 2009 and continued investment in the mobile channel has contributed to a 50pc increase in year-on-year mobile revenues.”
By John Kennedy
