Entertainment
‘Padmaavat’ opens in Haryana, Punjab to ‘good response’
Chandigarh, Jan 25 (IANS) With scores of armed policemen and private guards stationed in and around multiplexes and cinema halls in Haryana and Punjab, the screening of the Hindi film “Padmaavat” began in both states on Thursday to a good response from viewers.
Security personnel were stationed outside leading malls and cinema halls where the film is being screened since Wednesday. The Haryana and Punjab Police did not want to take any chances in view of the violence witnessed in Gurugram, adjoining Delhi, on Wednesday.
Cinema hall managers said the film was getting a good response from people.
“We normally have 5-6 shows every day for films. But for ‘Padmaavat’, we have 12 shows daily in view of the high demand,” a cinema hall owner in Sirsa town in Haryana said.
The film was being screened in other places in Haryana also even though some cinema halls and multiplexes had opted not to screen it amid the tension and threats of violence.
The BJP government in Haryana had earlier imposed a ban on screening of the film in the state but the Supreme Court stayed the ban.
Screening of the film started under tight security in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and other places in Punjab.
In Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, “Padmaavat” got off to a good start.
“We are a group of ladies who are going to watch this movie – first day, first show. There is enough security and media outside the theatre to control things,” a city resident, Guddi Thakur, said.
–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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