As he explained, YouNow is a platform that is similar to The Gong Show but for the Web. Although anyone can participate in the show, it operates on a crowdsourcing model. In other words, the more votes the contestant gets, the more airtime and status he or she obtains. However, if the contestant gets voted down, he or she will get pushed off the show.

Sideman told us that YouNow provides an alternative for people who never make the reality shows on mainstream television.

He went on to say that Pinger is able reduce these costs through its new gamification technology that keeps gaming volumes symmetric. This solution allows carriers to continue making money and keeps consumers from having to pay a premium.

Sipher told us that he believes this technology will help Pinger take its services to other parts of the world as well.

Stewart went on to explain that both users and developers would benefit from the merger. He believes that the joint effort would also help them expand globally as well as enable them to take on Zynga and other gaming giants.

WebProNews spoke with Eli Lehrer, the Vice President of The Heartland Institute, about the legislation, and he said that it was “common sense.” The bill, called the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011, or H.R. 2366, has also received bipartisan support, which Lehrer believes is significant.

Are you in favor of this new online poker bill?

For starters, OpenFeint recently sold to GREE, a Japanese mobile game company, for a whopping $104 million. Also, the company partnered with SEGA in an effort to promote cross platform connectivity. In addition, OpenFeint is bringing a product to the market called GameFeed that is similar to Facebook’s newsfeed but that enables gamers to easily share what’s happening in all their games with their friends.

Citron told us that OpenFeint wanted to bring “rich social interaction” to gaming.

“If you were a game player, you actually spent more time socializing, interacting with your friends,” Imran Malek, the Business Development Manager of MocoSpace, told WebProNews.

MocoSpace surveyed 10,000 people and split them into 2 groups: gamers and non-gamers. Malek explained that gamers are more social because the games often encourage users to interact with their friends. In other words, people are incentivized to have more friends.

Do these findings surprise you?

“I’m really excited to be a part of this movie,” she said.

The film tells the story of an American soldier played by Gyllenhaal that becomes trapped in another person’s body as part of a government experiment. During the course of the experiment he meets Monaghan’s character, Christina Warren.

As she explained to WPN, Gyllenhaal, as Captain Colter Stevens, inspires her to become a better person. Even with all the intensity and the action, Stevens and Warren fall in love.

Monaghan also discussed the social gaming aspect of the film that allows users to really connect with it. She calls the game “amazing” and said it gives the film a special uniqueness.

Source Code opens in full release on April 1.

Source Code is about an American soldier who finds himself in the body of a stranger as part of a government experiment. He is tasked with the mission of finding the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

The stars of the film are Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright. In this interview with WebProNews, Jones called these actors “amazing.” He also pointed out how the science-fiction elements add to the intensity of the film.

“From someone, like myself, who’s the science-fiction fan, it was really fun to sort of try and take those elements… put them in the background a little bit, but sort of introduce them in a way that people who aren’t necessarily purely sci-fi fans could also start to get into it and start to understand some of the things that make me passionate,” he said.

Because SXSW attracts people that really love film, Jones wanted to premiere the film during the show. He premiered Moon at SXSW as well and said he really loves the show.

Source Code opens in full release on April 1.

In this other person’s body, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays the lead role as Captain Colter Stevens, is responsible for discovering who planted a terrorist bomb on a Chicago commuter train. In spite of the intense action of solving the mystery, the film also contains a love story.

However, Source Code is unique in the fact that it incorporates a social game called the Source Code Mission. The game is accessible through the Microsoft Tag technology and allows users to become part of the movie experience.

In an exclusive interview with WebProNews on the night of the film’s premiere, Gyllenhaal said the game gives users a valuable opportunity to create their own story.

“This, to me, feels like, a way of creatively telling another story based on the story that was already told,” he said.

He went on to say that he believed the “coolest aspect” of social gaming is the concept of seeing fans inspired enough to create their own content that could potentially be better than the original.

Source Code opens in full release on April 1.

As he explains, Entropia Universe accidentally broke a Guinness World record for the most valuable virtual world and turned it into a business. It’s an online game that is designed to let users have fun, play, and socialize, but it can also be used by businesses.

In the virtual world, anything a user has or does is worth money. Players can buy the in-game currency and it can be redeemed back into real money at a fixed exchange rate.

Although Entropia Universe is similar to Second Life, it is also very different. Storey says Second Life is a designer world and Entropia Universe is more of a game.

So, what brings Entropia Unvierse to SXSW? Storey tells WPN that he wanted to learn the social aspects of interactive media to apply it to business.

Find out more about Entropia Universe here.

The device includes a trackball, joystick, directional pad, 6 accelerometers, and a full QWERTY keyboard. It allows users to play their PC games on their television wirelessly.

In addition, with Gamecore, users can close their PC game and open a new window to view Facebook or another site.

To find out more about iGuGu’s Gamecore, visit their site.

The Beamz product consists of 3 laser light beams for each hand, which translates into a total of six beams altogether. When users break a beam, music is created. Once broken, the light beams trigger and activate 100+ instruments, chords, music clips, sound effects, and rhythms. Amazingly, the Beamz software ensures that every musical sound is perfectly on key and beat.

Beamz has an educational component since it helps users learn how to play music. Users of all ages can play the device with ease and more experienced musicians can use it to compose, produce, and record music. In addition, users have found Beamz therapeutic and spiritual.

Beamz also introduced a new gaming platform at CES.

The product is compatible with both PC and MAC and is powered through a USB port. To learn more about this incredible innovation, visit www.thebeamz.com.

You may remember our coverage last year when Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear ordered the seizure of 141 gambling domain names by the state. The case went to court and Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate upheld the Governor’s order. The website owners appealed the ruling and in January of this year, the appellate court reversed Judge Wingate’s ruling saying domain names should not be considered gaming devices.

Clarke refers to this case as a classic example of a state not understanding its state limitations of jurisdiction on the Web. Sarah points out that the Kentucky appellate court’s ruling was based only upon a 2-1 decision. She expresses fear that other states will follow Kentucky’s example and push for action in similar cases.

Despite the ruling, Kentucky is not giving up its fight against the Internet domain names. In a statement released from Governor Beshear’s administration, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown said:

“The Commonwealth will continue its action to protect Kentucky citizens from illegal Internet gambling operations, and appeal the recent Court of Appeals ruling to the state Supreme Court.”

He went on to say:

“The evidence demonstrated that illegal and unregulated activity is occurring in Kentucky, and that millions of dollars are being lost as a result of that activity…”

WebProNews will continue to keep you updated as this battle continues.

The device connects to a PC by plugging into a wireless USB key thus giving users computer navigation capabilities in a 3-D space. As a gaming device, it can be used like a classic Wii remote or similar to a gun complete with a trigger underneath for games in which you shoot things.

The device offers four modes of play in a single controller. Also, the gadget can be held on either end and the controls operate just as they would for games such as Mario Cart. Equipped with a Software Developer Kit (SDK), the CyWee Z allows users to configure their personal PC or online games to their liking. The remote cannot however, be used with a Wii or any console games.

The company is striving to make the digital experience more real and interactive. The controller comes with three PC games including Virtual Tennis 3 from SEGA, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 by EA Sports, and Crashday by Atari. The product is currently retailing in the U.S. for $120.