Entertainment
I’d rather be acting than playing myself on TV: Kalki Koechlin
New Delhi ; Actress Kalki Koechlin, who will be making her TV debut with the “Kalki’s Great Escape” show, says she is very selective when it comes to working on the small screen, as she would prefer “acting in films or doing theatre” over playing herself on TV.
The actress also said she made an exception for the FOX Life show as it allowed her to spend some time with her father Joel, and as the show resonated with her personality.
“I don’t do many TV shows because I’d rather be doing films or theatre. I am an actor… I would rather be acting than playing myself on TV. So I don’t do TV shows… so this was the time I did since we (she and her father) did this again after many years,” Kalki told IANS.
In the show, Kalki goes on a motorbike adventure to the north east with Joel, a biker and photographer. They are seen sharing many experiences during the ride through unexplored terrains of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The show will go on air on FOX Life from Saturday.
The “Waiting” actress added that her career in the industry has kept her busy, and hence she took the opportunity of being with her father through this show.
She said: “We have not done many trips that we used to do earlier so that was definitely one of the reasons.”
Why the Northeast? “We wanted to go to the Northeast because we have travelled a lot in India but didn’t go to Northeast at all. Initially, my dad wanted me to cover (all) the seven sisters but then time constraint was there.
“We felt the need to find someone who knew the kind of theme which is not a regular TV show, and is kind of travelling to entertain people, but kind of more spontaneous and raw and kind of discovering things as we go along.”
She said that the channel “understood that”.
Kalki said the show is about learning from people, interacting with the locals and discovering the place.
Joel also had fun being a part of the show. He said: “It is a first for me and I think from the extracts that I have seen it is coming better than I thought.”
Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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