Entertainment
It’s India calling for Elizabeth Hurley again
By Sugandha Rawal
Mumbai, Nov 10 (IANS) After Hollywood star Halle Berry surprised many by posting ‘desi’ moments from her Mumbai tour on social media, British model and actress Elizabeth Hurley is also coming to the country’s financial and film capital here.
According to a well-placed source, Hurley, who was once married to Arun Nayar, a businessman of Indian origin, will be in India till November 17.
“She will be coming to Mumbai tonight or tomorrow. She will be in India till November 17,” the source told IANS.
The reason which is bringing Hurley, who was last seen on the small screen in “The Royals”, to India, has been kept under wraps.
Hurley’s affair with India started when she got married to businessman Nayar at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur in 2007.
Her marriage with Nayar didn’t last long and ended with a divorce in 2011, but Hurley developed a special connection with the country, and keeps making short trips to India. She is also very vocal about her love for all the ‘desi’ things — from her admiration for ethnic outfits to shopping for antiques in the country.
Her TV show “The Royals”, based on the lives of a fictional British royal family, has also featured actors with roots in India, and shown Hurley draped in a sari. The fourth season of the show will be coming soon on Indian television on Colors Infinity.
In January this year, Hurley took to Instagram to share moments from her Mumbai trip with her son Damian. The 52-year-old star posted an image from her beach day out, in which she was seen in a blue bikini.
At present, Hurley can be seen, through her Instagram feed, enjoying a vacation in the Maldives.
Meanwhile, Berry met actress-producer Dia Mirza to talk about cinema, climate change, children and her idea of happiness at an event in Mumbai.
Dia on Thursday shared a photograph of herself along with singer Ananya Birla and Berry.
“The world is getting smaller and girls are owning their place. Ananya Birla and I with the most amazing Halle Berry today,” Dia wrote alongside the image, in which Berry is seen in a white ensemble.
“What a warm, intelligent, gracious woman. India loves you Halle! Can’t wait to have you back. It was such a joy speaking with you,” Dia added.
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
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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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