SnapGear Develops Secure Embedded Appliance
SAN MATEO, Calif. – November 28, 2001 – SnapGear, Inc., a leading vendor of VPN Router appliance technology, has announced the development of a secure embedded appliance for the Australian company TAB Queensland – one of Australia’s premier racing and sports wagering organisations.
TAB Queensland, one of only three authorized companies, holds licences in the states of Queensland and the Northern Territory which authorise it to conduct totalisator sports and race wagering and fixed odds sports betting by the internet and telephone and through their retail network. Part of the Australian government regulatory requirements is that there is a monitoring service to ensure fair play and accuracy of records. That’s where SnapGear Inc. was able to assist, leveraging from the extensive SecureEdge family of reference designs to develop a purpose-built solution known as the “Thin Controller”.
As a compact, integrated product the Thin Controller replaces a conventional bulky PC. The PCs required several custom plug-in cards all of which had to be sourced from multiple vendors. Now TAB Queensland only needs to arrange supply from a single source and unlike a PC solution they know that the each batch is identical in specification, components and quality. Total cost of ownership is reduced due to the solid-state design which means virtually no maintenance. Most importantly downtime is reduced which translates to real money for every second that their production environment is unavailable.
The Thin Controller allows the TAB to do considerably more than just meeting regulations – it allows them to increase their revenues through value-added features of the design. On site there is a multitude of other Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs), network and display equipment. The Thin Controller brings these all together and does this in real-time as a communications hub.
Michael Carr, Group General Manager of Gaming and Marketing said: “Through an economy of scale we can now deploy the sytem into more venues. It’s not just a glorified router but actually processes information from other EGMs, metres the financials, supervises the gaming, runs jackpots and even assigns probabilities with regard to turnover. This system allows the TAB to present our innnovative Super Cash for Jackpot – it helps make the gaming experience more exciting.”. The TAB also provides services to help clubs determine profitability and how to increase revenues.
TAB Queensland is already recognized for offering the locally developed QCOM protocol for linking hosts and games which is recognized as the most powerful protocol in use. Having 40 years of experience in the sports and racing betting industry the TAB Queensland is considering bidding for further monitoring contracts with strategic partners in Asia-Pacific region. Carr said: “Our systems form part of a potentially global integrated gaming machine and monitoring solution. Gaming and Regulatory authorities will find this product attractive and we’ve already had interest from other government regulators. Even Casinos and Gaming Machine manufacturer’s are getting interested.”.
Pricing and Availability
SecureEdge solutions offer custom design, manufacturing and fulfillment services for OEM customers who require secure Internet access devices in volumes of 500 to 10,000. Further information can be obtained by viewing the web site http://www.secureedge.net or sending e-mail to oemsales@secureedge.net
About SnapGear, Inc.
SnapGear is the leading provider of fully-featured cost-effective Internet security solutions for the home, office, and the remote worker markets. SnapGear, Inc. designs, develops and manufactures a complete line of Internet security solutions that provide access security and transaction security for small, medium and large enterprises. For more information visit http://www.snapgear.com