blackjack

There is a wide range of gambling and card game apps on the App Store. While actual gambling is not permitted through apps, the scope of simulation varies substantially. Some are very complex with Game Center support and matching features while others are bare-bones, offering only a pure rendition of the original game. Such is the case with BlackJack for Millionaire. Upon starting the app, you will find no menus, only an option to start playing. Place your bet and your hand is dealt. You can then choose a new card, stand, double down, surrender or split. If you've … Read more

A trio of images have surfaced online that show Samsung is working on a portrait-style QWERTY handset running Android.

Borrowing a bit from the form factor of the long-forgotten Samsung Blackjack, the device seems to feature a screen in the vicinity of 3.1 inches. At this size, we're looking at HGVA resolution (320x480), which isn't exactly great for heavy gamers or multimedia enthusiasts.

However, that isn't the target demographic for a phone like this. Much like the Motorola Droid Pro, this design should appeal to business users and folks looking for convenient text messaging and e-mail. … Read more

The new year is coming up, which means everyone here at CNET is gearing up for CES 2011, including our laptop editor Scott Stein, who joins us to chat about what to expect at next year's biggest technology trade show.

Perhaps the most anticipated event for us at CES 2011 is all the gambling we plan to do in order to make up for last year's financial losses. Jeff and Scott got a little too excited last year and lost some money right when we got to Las Vegas, so this year we'll be sure to avoid the dealers holding flaming skulls and and play by the book!

Google has released its own year end wrap-up for most popular search terms for 2010 in an report called Google Zeitgeist. Turns out that ChatRoulette, the Web site that paired strangers together in a random video chat, was the fastest rising term of 2010, beating out the Apple iPad and Justin Bieber that took second and third place.

Conversely, many search engines fell from popularity since last year, and Google reveals that "swine flu" was the fastest falling search term around the world this year, followed by the bank Washington Mutual and tween favorite Twilight:New Moon. And Michael Jackson, last year's top search query, dropped to the ninth spot in Google's list of falling results.

Google also reveals bizarre sentences queried in 2010 that question if a horse can have OCD, why you can't stand on the sun's surface, and whether or not ninjas are better than pirates.

Protesters in the UK attacked a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla yesterday, and CNN was on the scene to cover the security breach, but check out this video of a messy programming error halfway through the broadcast.

Someone at the station must have queued the infamous bathroom scene from Dumb & Dumber for another segment, because even the news anchor is surprised at the display and promises to edit out the hilarious mistake from the final broadcast. That being said, expect the video for today's episode to feature many, many cuts to said clip.

Finally, thanks to Austin from Luke that has some fashion tips for me in today's video voice mail. Have a great weekend everyone!

Back in NYC after CES, the gang discusses show highlights, from tablets to Netbooks to 3DTV.

Plus, find out who won out custom ZuneHD giveaway, Joey pitches an idea for laptops with swappable keyboards, and we debate the perfect price point for the Apple tablet.

Related links: >>The coolest laptops of CES >>What, exactly, is a smartbook? >>Slate-mania grips PC makers

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3pm EST on CNET Live! >>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes >>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page >&… Read more

Dan, Scott, and special guest Playboy's Scott Alexander, discuss the seedy underbelly of the CES/Vegas experience, from Taser demos to trade show food to disastrous blackjack runs.

Our regular NYC show returns Monday 1/11, and audio for this special CES edition will be up soon -- check out the video version now.

Related links: >>The coolest laptops of CES >>What, exactly, is a smartbook? >>Slate-mania grips PC makers

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3pm EST on CNET Live! >>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes &… Read more

EvilCards lives up to its title by offering a violent way to play traditional card games. While the game play is fun, there were some hurdles that nearly derailed the program along the way.

The program's interface initially impressed us with its simple navigation between games and its professional-looking graphic design. However, we were disappointed that the program offers no Help file or instructions and often requires a lot of frustrating experimentation to learn. EvilCards offers a twisted take on classic card games like Blackjack, Hearts, Poker, and a few others. Once we'd managed to decipher the controls, … Read more

Heh. I'm thinking of all the corny headlines I could use for this post, but I will spare you the cheesiness and just say that AT&T announced on Thursday the upcoming availability of its latest Windows Mobile smartphone, the Samsung Jack.

The Jack is the successor to the Samsung BlackJack II and will be in stores May 19 for a lovely price of $99.99 with a two-year contract. Like its predecessor, the Jack is a messaging-centric device, with its full QWERTY keyboard and support for multiple e-mail accounts, instant messaging, and of course, text and multimedia … Read more

The iPhone or iPod touch you own now has a new job: beating dealers at the Blackjack table and breaking the law in Las Vegas casinos! Officials in Nevada more than a little peeved about a trio of unique iTunes App Store apps: A Blackjack Card Counter (iTunes Link) by Webtopia $2.99, Card Counter (iTunes Link) by TMSOFT $2.99 and CardCounterBJ (iTunes Link) by Hideyuki Shibata $.99.

The officials at the Gaming Control Board in Nevada even went so far as to issue a warning (PDF Link) to casino operators about card counting applications being available from the … Read more

Update 4:19 pm: This story has been modified to include reaction from the creator of the card-counting iPhone app.

Since the July 2008 launch of the App Store, Apple has maintained a sort of moral code--a PG-13-type standard, if you will--surrounding the thousands of iPhone and iPod Touch applications available via the service.

That's why, for example, there are no iPhone porn apps, though it is certainly possible to access adult content optimized for the device.

Given that, one would think that Apple wouldn't have given the thumbs-up to an app that, if used in the most logical manner, could get someone arrested, or worse. But with an app called "A Blackjack Card Counter," that's not, in fact, the case.

We've all seen the movies where the hot-shot gambler slips up and finds himself hustled off to a back room where a genial but brutal casino manager calmly breaks a few fingers while issuing a stern warning never to come back. Films like The Cooler, 21, Rounders, Casino and many others have made this kind of scene, even if it's not always about card counting, a staple of our imagination.

Yet card counting--a complex practice that gives practitioners a way to determine the optimal times to bet in blackjack--prevails to this day. And it's not even illegal, though being caught at it is sure to lead to a hasty expulsion from a casino, at best, or even the kind of back-room visit discussed above. What is definitely illegal, however, is the employment of any kind of electronic device that aids players in counting cards.

And that's where "A Blackjack Card Counter," and perhaps a few other iPhone apps come into play.

Earlier this month, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, itself tipped off by the California Bureau of Gambling Control, issued an alert to "all non-restricted licensees and interested parties"--the state's casinos--warning of the emergence of iPhone card counting apps.

"This blackjack card-counting program can be utilized on either the Apple iPhone or the Apple iPod Touch...Once this program is installed on the phone through the iTunes Web site it can make counting cards easy," Nevada Gaming Control Board member Randall Sayre wrote in the alert. "This program can be used in the 'stealth mode.' When the program is used in the 'stealth mode' the screen of the phone will remain shut off, and as long as the user knows where the keys are located, the program can be run effortlessly without detection."

And, as Sayre pointed out, "use of this type of program or possession of a device with this type of program on it--with the intent to use it--in a licensed gaming establishment, is a violation" of the law.

For its part, the makers of "A Blackjack Card Counter," an Australian outfit called Webtopia, couldn't be happier about the attention being paid to its app as a result of its potentially illegal nature.

"Since the Nevada Gaming Control Board warned casinos about 'A Blackjack Card Counter' there's been an unprecedented demand for this app," Webtopia wrote in the tool's official App Store description. "Now you can see what all the fuss (is) about at a very reasonable price." … Read more