How Will 5G Improve Your Online Casino Experience?
Although a complete roll-out of 5G will take a few years as infrastructure is upgraded, 5G is already available in Canada. In early 2020, Rogers launched its 5G NR network in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. In June 2020, Telus and Bell launched their 5G networks in Montreal, Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton, and Videoton followed later in the year with its launch in Montreal. Coverage will be extended throughout 2021 as more carriers roll out their 5G services, but Canadians will not see the full impact that total 5G coverage can have until all the infrastructure is in place.
However, with the launch of the iPhone 12, and Samsung Galaxy S20, players can already start using the 5G technology, even if the areas of availability are limited. Casino players can start looking forward to enormous innovation in the online casino industry, because the faster mobile speeds, increased connectivity and minimal lag the new technology offers makes 5G (literally) a game-changer. We looked at some of the ways that online casinos and software providers can embrace this change.
Improved Casino Games
Slot games have come a long way since the one-armed bandits from the days of yore. In the early days of casino gaming, the bigger, more elaborate games could only be played on your desktop through downloaded casino software, like Viper. As mobile connectivity improved, and mobile gaming software developed to take advantage of that improvement, we have seen a marked improvement in the quality and complexity of the slot games that are available for mobile. Due to the reach and accessibility of mobile devices, newer casinos are being designed specifically to be optimised for mobile and desktop play. With 5G, massive increases in mobile speed and an equally significant reduction in latency means that casino games can become even more complex, interactive and dynamic. Graphics and sound effects can improve drastically, and new and innovative features that require connection speed to function properly will become possible.
Better Live Casino Experience
The whole point of Live Casino is to give you the authentic feel of a real-world casino, coupled with the convenience of playing on your mobile wherever you happen to be. The way Live Casino works is by streaming video directly from the studios, so you play with a real dealer and other players, at a real table. However, the experience is only as good as your internet connection. If you are playing on mobile, interruptions halfway through a game of blackjack, for example, can make you lose the hand. Also, no matter how good your connection, issues with latency means that there are often lags between the dealer offering you another card and receiving your reply. It is a small annoyance, but it is just enough to detract from the real-world experience that Live Casino players are after. However, with 5G, there is no issue with latency, the speed of your connection to the network is much faster, and your mobile connection will not fail regardless of traffic. This is thanks to the higher frequency range that 5G operates in and the capacity it allows. 5G will give the Live Casino experience a massive boost, and your gameplay will feel much quicker, more immersive, and more “real”.
Virtual and Augmented Reality Gaming
The possibilities that 5G offers extend beyond improving the casino games we already have. What would innovative software companies do with the extra complexity that higher speeds and lower latency present? Games can become richer in content, but they can also move beyond what we already have. Imagine a virtual reality casino where the games are completely immersive. Slots already have varied and marvellous themes. Imagine being able to feel like you are really stepping into those worlds that they represent. Or the casino interface could change completely, and instead of scrolling through casino games, you could feel like you are walking through a real casino. Of course, the tech is not quite there yet, but it is not far off either.
Augmented reality games may be a little closer. Just as Pokemon had us hunting for elusive creatures by layering the augmented world over the real one, mobile casino games could have us hunting for jackpots or bonuses in similar ways. The tech exists, and higher speeds make it much more accessible and feasible to create games of this ilk…. All it takes is imagination from the casino software developers and a willingness from players to think of a casino game as something that could be malleable, not something locked in a slot grid.
Conclusion
It is difficult to predict all the changes that 5G will bring, but with tech aficionados speaking of fully integrated autonomous cars, remote surgery and a massive impact to businesses and country-wide infrastructure, the future of online casino gaming looks equally exciting. Better bandwidth and better speed may not sound like much, but the possibilities they unlock for any industry that uses mobile communication could prove to be enormous.
As one of the most widespread social media giants, Facebook provides a convenient way to log into your casino account. Third parties can access basic information about you, but if they require any more than that, they need to request your permission and go through a review process. Facebook also gives you the option to select what information you are willing to share with third parties.
If you have a Google account, you can use it as a sign-in method at certain casinos. Third parties (like casinos) can access your email, public profile, age and contact list. Google does allow developers to publish on your feed, so this is something to keep in mind. During the initial authentication, you can adjust the information that the third-party developer has access to, but it is very difficult to change this at a later stage.
If you choose to use Twitter to sign in to your casino account, you need to be aware of the information you could be sharing. Although you retain the ability to remove access, third parties could get permission to read your tweets, direct messages and see who you follow. However, most of this information is readily available to anyone with a Twitter account anyway.
