Entertainment
Not stuck with comedy: ‘Welcome 2 Karachi’ director
Mumbai: Director Ashish R. Mohan, whose directorial debut “Khiladi 786” had hints of comedy, is coming up with his second film “Welcome 2 Karachi”, which also falls in the comic genre. But he says he isn’t “stuck” with one genre.
“When you like something, you feel like making it, I believe in that. Though I’ll definitely try my hand at romance or thriller, I’m not stuck with one particular genre,” Mohan told.
The director, who visited Pakistan a few weeks back, says he got a positive feedback to the film’s trailer there, and he hopes “Welcome 2 Karachi” releases there.
“There is nothing official yet regarding the release of the film in Pakistan. It will be decided by the producers and the distributors of the film. However, I do wish the film releases in Pakistan,” he said.
The film, which starrs Arshad Warsi, Jackky Bhagnani and Lauren Gottlieb, centres on two men (Arshad and Jackky) who start on a journey to the US but end up in Karachi instead.
The film’s release was recently pushed ahead by a week to avoid a clash with “Tanu Weds Manu Returns”. It was earlier scheduled to release on May 21 but has now been pushed to May 29.
Talking about the change in release date, the director said: “It was a very wise decision on the distributors’ and producers’ part to push the release date of the film since ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ was already releasing on May 22 and the next weekend was free. If we’re getting a clear week, why not take that?”
As for his next project, Mohan is currently looking at two scripts, but says he will only decide which one to do first after “Welcome 2 Karachi” releases.
“I’m working on a couple of scripts, one of which is a thriller and the other is a comedy. But I will decide which one to make first after the release of ‘Welcome 2 Karachi’ because then I’ll know where I stand and I’ll have to do something better than that,” he said.
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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