Entertainment
Tom Cruise ready to leave Scientology for daughter
Los Angeles, Feb 1 (IANS) Actor Tom Cruise is reportedly ready to leave Scientology as he has not been able to meet his daughter Suri for five years due to the Church of Scientology’s strict rules.
The “Jack Reacher” actor “has reached the breaking point, and something has to give”, reports aceshowbiz.com.
“If he wants her back, he’ll have to walk away from the church, which has been a huge part of his life, to say the least. Leaving Scientology would be the toughest decision he will ever have to make,” a source told HollywoodLife magazine.
The father-daughter duo was last photographed together in public in August 2012, when he took her to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
His former wife and actress Katie Holmes has full custody of Suri after the actress filed for divorce in July 2012, ending their five-and-a-half years of marriage. Following her divorce from Tom, Holmes returned to the Catholic Church.
In September 2017, it was reported that “Katie has grown so tired, disappointed, and frustrated with Tom’s absence as a father”.
“Tom does not make time for Suri and she has learned to deal with not having her father around,” said the source.
“As Suri matures into a young girl, she is learning more about who her father is in the world and about his busy lifestyle as a megastar actor. But that does not make things any easier for the child.”
Tom joined Scientology in 1990 and has been an outspoken advocate for the religion ever since. Based on the experiences of former Scientologists, leaving the church would not be an easy transition.
–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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