Entertainment
John Abraham wants to set up football academy in Assam
Guwahati, Nov 14 (IANS) Actor and owner of Indian Super League (ISL) franchise, North East United FC (NEUFC), John Abraham is likely to set up a world class football academy here.
Abraham said this to Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the Brahmaputra State Guest House during a meeting on Tuesday and Sonowal has assured him of all support for setting up the football academy.
Sonowal informed the NEUFC owner that the state government has accorded top priority to development of sports in Assam.
“We are resolutely working to make Guwahati the sports capital of the country. Our government has given priority to strengthening sports infrastructure and organising international sports events to boost this claim,” Sonowal said.
Sonowal added that the football academy proposed to be set up by Abraham would immensely help the aspiring footballers of the state and his government would provide all support and land for setting up the academy.
He said that the government has taken up initiatives to identify talented sportspersons to improve their skills and urged Abraham to take forward the Assam government’s efforts to strengthen ties with the Asean countries through sports.
The Chief Minister also highlighted the steps taken by the state government for implementation of the Act East Policy to boost trade and commerce and cultural relations with the South-East Asian countries so that Guwahati can emerge as India’s gateway to that region.
Abraham while expressing his keen desire to set up the football academy also assured the Chief Minister that he would take all necessary steps to ensure the participation of players from the Asean countries in sports activities in Guwahati next year.
He also informed the Chief Minister about his willingness to work for the promotion and growth of tourism and culture of Assam including Assamese cinema.
The Bollywood actor said that he would arrange for screening the premier show of a film based on the storyline of the Pokhran nuclear test in February next year in Guwahati.
–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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