Entertainment
Aarya 2: Sushmita Sen starts shooting for the second part
Sushmita Sen has started shooting for Ram Madhvani directorial web series Aarya 2. The actor, who announced its second season earlier this week, gave the first clap of the mahurat shot. Aarya debuted on Disney+ Hotstar in 2020. On the official Twitter handle of Ram Madhvani Films, the makers shared a video, featuring the director and Sushmita commencing the shoot.
Aarya marked Sushmita Sen’s digital debut as well as her comeback to acting. It was also filmmaker Ram Madhvani’s entry in the web space. Apart from Sushmita, the series also starred Chandrachur Singh, Namit Das, Sikander Kher and others in pivotal role.
While there is no official announcement about the plot and other details of its new season, a source told indianexpress.com that the makers were always kicked about taking the story ahead with a new installment. “The idea was to continue Aarya’s story and how she deals with newer challenges, while fighting her own family. The team had been prepping up for the new season for a long time, and it’s set to go on floors soon. The show would mostly launch sometime later this year.”
Sushmita, who plays the titular role in the series, garnered mostly positive response for her performance. She even won the Best Actress-Web Series award at Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2021, recently.
The actor shared her acceptance speech video on her Instagram profile. “Of the many things I have learnt over the years as an actor and a person is that everything we do in our lifes needs a teamwork. This moment, this honour is also a result of teamwork,” the actor said in the video.
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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