Entertainment
Sad I missed opportunity to host Christopher Lee: Amitabh
Mumbai: Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan has mourned the death of Hollywood’s iconic villain Christopher Lee, whom he describes as a “gentle giant in reality” and a “giant of an artist”. He says he once had a chance to host the “caring” legend here, but rues that he missed it.
The 72-year-old took to his official blog to mourn the death of the Hollywood icon, who passed away at an age of 93 on Sunday in London after suffering respiratory and heart problems.
“Some years ago I was invited to be on the Jury for the Miss World Contest, in South Africa, soon after the year after our own Miss World debacle in ABCL. Sir Christopher Lee was on the panel of judges with us, and I remember the wonderful time spent with him during the contest,” Big B posted on his blog.
The Indian actor also noted that Lee, who essayed the character of Pakistan’s founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the 1998 film “Jinnah”, presented a part of Indian history on the silver screen.
“He was great company… played a few rounds of golf with him during the off moments, a proficient golfer with a handsome handicap… a few years later I got a note from him that he was on his way to India to film… a chapter in the history of pre-independent India… he was playing Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
“I was travelling and could not respond to him… sad that I missed his company and the opportunity to host him here in Mumbai… and today he has left this world… prayers and peace in condolence,” he added.
Lee ruled the darker realms of cinema with his villainous and evil roles in movies like “The Man With the Golden Gun”, “The Curse of Frankenstein”, “Star Wars” films, “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”. He spiralled to fame with his role as Count Dracula in Hammer Horror films.
The “Paa” actor looked back at Lee’s body of work, saying he will remain alive through his “immortal” characters.
“Christopher Lee, a giant of an artist… one that immortalised Count Dracula in those horror movies… a gentle giant in reality… simple considerate and caring,” he shared.
Lee, whose career began in the 1940s, caught everyone’s attention with “Dracula Has Risen From The Grave”, which gave him a star status. The nonagenarian has one film yet to be released, the fantasy film “Angels in Notting Hill”, where he plays a godly figure who looks after the universe.
He was also set to star in the 9/11 drama “The 11th” opposite Uma Thurman, which was due to begin filming in November.
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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