| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Research & Development |
| Founded | Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. (1994) |
| Founder(s) | Jay S. Walker |
| Headquarters | Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
Walker Digital is a privately held American research and development lab based in Stamford, Connecticut. It was founded in 1994 by Jay S. Walker, who also holds the position of chairman as of 2011. The company specializes in creating applications and business solutions that work with large-scale networks such as cell phones and the Internet. Walker Digital and its principals partner with Fortune 500 firms such as Time Warner and International Game Technology to bring its inventions to market. It also licenses other companies to do so.
Walker Digital LLC is the parent company of Walker Digital Management, Walker Digital Lottery, Walker Digital Gaming and Walker Digital Table Systems.[1]
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In 1999, a U.S. patent was issued to Walker Digital for a business solution, which was then assigned to Synapse Group Inc.[2]
Synapse sells magazine subscriptions chiefly through marketing relationships with credit card issuers, consumer catalog companies, airlines with frequent flier programs, retailers and Internet businesses.[3]
In 2001, Time Warner purchased a controlling stake in Synapse for a sum in excess of $500 million, completing that transaction in 2006.[4]
Walker Digital launched Priceline.com in 1998, partially self-funding the startup company. Additional funds came from investors[5] including Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, financier George Soros, Lotus Development Corp. CEO Jim Manzi; and cable TV magnate John C. Malone.
Priceline caught public attention with its "name your own price" advertising campaign, using actor William Shatner as its celebrity spokesman: users agree in advance to purchase a service or product “blind”—without knowing precisely which provider would supply the product or service. They might be required to be flexible about travel dates and times, airports and cities.
Sellers could remain anonymous while using the system, to move inventory at discounted prices without appearing to break their publicly-advertised price structure. Consumers do not learn from which company they have purchased until after the sale is completed.
Priceline sold an estimated 40,000 tickets in its first quarter of operation.[5] In 1999, Priceline went public.[5] Walker left Priceline in late 2000 to focus on new ventures with Walker Digital.
In 2003 Walker Digital devised an Internet–based surveillance system called U.S. HomeGuard. The basic concept was to hire 1 million work-at-home employees who would log in over the Internet to provide constant surveillance of image feeds from some 47,000 security cameras. These webcams would be installed nationwide at security-sensitive sites including border crossings, water reservoirs, chemical plants, nuclear power generators, airports, etc. Observers would report any suspicious activity to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security within 30 seconds. Wired magazine called the idea "intriguing".[6]
The Atlantic reported that Walker Digital invested several million dollars developing a prototype, offering the sell the system to the U.S. government for $1. Estimating that a test would cost $40 million, Walker said he was prepared to raise private funds for this purpose. On the recommendation of then-Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Walker held numerous meetings with White House and DHS officials but the U.S. declined to go forward with the project.[7]
In 2006 CNNMoney[8] cited U.S. HomeGuard as the inspiration for a similar public-private partnership when Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced plans for a webcam-based "virtual border patrol". By late 2008 the result was Texas Virtual Border Watch (www.texasborderwatch.com). In its first four months, the program experienced technical challenges and political controversy; its 43,000 "virtual deputies" were credited with four drug busts and with preventing 30 illegal immigrant crossings.[9]
In 2003 Walker Digital began patenting inventions in the vending machine field with the goal of revolutionizing the vending industry through enabling smart vending technology.
In 2007 Walker Digital exclusively licensed the patents for these innovations to Vendmore Systems, which launched its smart-technology-enabled platform in 2007 under the name QuickStore24TM.
In 2006 Walker Digital entered into a strategic partnership with International Game Technology (IGT), the world’s largest manufacturer of casino games.[10] He worked with IGT to develop innovative concepts and technologies for dozens of networked slot machines and other gaming devices, initially under a comprehensive license agreement.
The first result of the partnership was Guaranteed Play,[11] a new method for casino game players to purchase game play. Customers receive a fixed number of slot machine spins or blackjack hands, known as a "session" of play, at a discounted price, by paying in advance. Guaranteed Play has enjoyed a limited but successful introduction at such casinos as the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2010 Walker Digital sold approximately 100 patents to IGT, concluding the partnership.
In 2009 Walker Digital subsidiary Walker Digital Gaming introduced the Perfect Pay baccarat table and Smart Table Network, supporting Elite Baccarat.[12] Industry business journals reported that Perfect Pay utilizes RFID technology to track baccarat wagers, hand outcomes, payouts and player ratings in real time while eliminating losses from dealer mis-pays, counterfeit chips and other problems.[13]
Perfect Pay and Elite Baccarat both won Gold Awards from Casino Journal at the 2009 Gaming Technology Summit.[14]
Genting Berhad, the Malaysia-based owner and operator of the world’s largest casino, the Genting Highlands, has ordered 100 Perfect Pay tables for that facility.
In 2009 Walker Digital and its partners launched a free website for English-language learning, yappr.com which provides non-English-speakers with a way to learn or improve their English. Viewers watch and listen to short film clips with soundtracks in English. Two sets of simultaneous subtitles are provided, one in English and one in the viewer’s language.
The practice of acquiring patents merely to license them is controversial in the software industry. Companies that have this business model are pejoratively referred to as patent trolls.[15]
In January 2001, the State of Connecticut Attorney General filed suit against Walker Digital. Faced with mounting financial losses, Jay Walker fired 106 of his 125 employees, violating Federal employment law requiring 60 days notice when laying off more than 33% of the workforce. On September 4, 2002, Walker Digital settles for $275,000 to be split amongst the laid off employees.[16]
In October 15, 2009 Walker Digital, LLC filed its first patent infringement action. The suit against Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell, Inc., was decided on January 3, 2011 as non-infringed.[17]
In November 2010 Walker Digital LLC sued Facebook for friending, or "Method and system for establishing and maintaining user-controlled anonymous communications". [18]
On April 11, 2011 Walker Digital filed 15 lawsuits against more than 100 defendants including Amazon, Google and Microsoft for unauthorized use of its intellectual properties.[19]