Entertainment
A year after Kerala actress’ kidnapping, trial to begin
Kochi, Feb 17 (IANS) Exactly a year later, the much-anticipated climax scene in the Kerala actress kidnap case, in which superstar Dileep has been named as the eighth accused, is to emerge with the trial set to begin very soon.
And the question that is uppermost in people’s minds is — will Dileep walk free or be behind bars.
It was this day last year that the abduction incident took place while the actress was on her way to Kochi from her house in Thrissur.
Her driver allegedly joined hands with a group of ‘criminals’ led by Pulsar Suni, who is the prime accused, and drove her through the busy streets of the commercial capital of the state and after two hours she was dropped near the home of director-actor Lal.
After she told him about what had happened to her, Lal called the police. The driver was first taken into custody and in a few days the rest of the gang, including Suni, was arrested.
But the twist in the tale, in true cinematic style, came when superstar Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017, after two rounds of questioning. After spending 85 days in jail, he got conditional bail.
Since then the police probe team has been busy in tying the loose ends in the now high profile case.
The trial court in December accepted the charge sheet that names a total of 12 persons, including Dileep as accused, while his former wife Manju Warrier, is a key witness.
The 650-page charge sheet included secret depositions. Among the list of witnesses, are around 50 from the film industry.
Now all eyes are on the beginning of the trial as the police is burning the midnight oil to see if they can successfully recover the visuals of the kidnapping and alleged molestation, which is reported to have been filmed by the gang.
–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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