Entertainment
Ambanis, Bhansali, Bhardwaj attend Priyanka-Nick’s engagement party
After a ‘roka’ ceremony made actress Priyanka Chopra and American singer Nick Jonas’ relationship official, the couple partied the night away with the Ambanis and some of Priyanka’s Bollywood friends in attendance here on Saturday night.
Nick’ parents, who came here for the traditional Indian pre-wedding ceremony, also attended the party with Priyanka’s mother Madhu Chopra and brother Siddharth at the actress’ residence.
Priyanka’s cousin Parineeti Chopra and Siddharth Roy Kapur, producer of Priyanka’s new film “The Sky is Pink”, were among the first guests to arrive at the party.
Alia Bhatt, Anusha Dandekar, Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani and Isha Ambani also came to congratulate the couple, as did directors Vishal Bhardwaj, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Siddharth Anand.
Salman Khan’s sister Arpita Khan Sharma attended the party along with her husband Aayush Sharma and writer Mushtaq Sheikh.
Popular DJ Khushi played the music as the guests enjoyed the night. In some videos shared on social media, Priyanka, 36, is seen dancing away while Nick, 25, is seen shaking his head like a bobblehead.
A family picture also sees Nick and Priyanka kissing the former’s parents on the cheek.
“What an amazing day of celebration for @nickjonas and @priyankachopra engagement and Indian culture,” Nick’s father Kevin Jonas Sr posted on Instagram.
This celebration followed a ‘puja’ earlier on Saturday, after which, Priyanka announced to the world, “Taken… With all my heart and soul”, on Instagram with an intimate photograph with Nick.
Nick introduced her as the “Future Mrs Jonas”, though the couple hasn’t announced their official wedding date yet.
Friends and family members are happy for the couple.
Nick’s brother Joe Jonas tweeted: “I couldn’t be happier for my brother. Welcome to the family Priyanka Chopra. We love you.”
Kevin Jonas also congratulated the couple via an Instagram Story, but the Jonas patriarch wrote: “So happy for the engagement of our son Nick Jonas and we welcome Priyanka Chopra into our family with love and excitement.”
“Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner, who got engaged to Joe last year, wrote: “Wow. First I’m blessed with an incredible future brother-in-law, and now such an beautiful, inside and out, future sister-in-law. I’m so excited to welcome you into the family (Priyanka Chopra). I love you both.”
Priyanka’s family members and friends are convinced she has found her perfect partner.
“I can’t think of a more a perfect man for her,” Parineeti posted on Instagram, urging Nick to love her “Mimi didi” because “she loves you like mad”.
“Protect her, because shes strong, but a soft soul inside. I love you both and wish you all the happiness forever,” she added.
Anusha Dandekar, who is a close friend to Priyanka, said the couple makes “love look so easy, beautiful and special”.
Several celebrities like Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan, Alia Bhatt, Sonam Kapoor, Masaba Gupta, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Diana Penty, Neha Kakkar, Bipasha Basu, Preity Zinta, Anushka Sharma, Sophie Chaudry and Malaika Arora sent in good wishes to the couple.
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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