Entertainment
Tweet not meant to demean anyone: Neha Dhupia
New Delhi: After facing a backlash for criticising the government on social media platform Twitter over its apathy towards Mumbai citizens during monsoon, actress Neha Dhupia has clarified that she didn’t intend to ‘hurt’ or ‘demean’ anyone with her post.
On July 21, Neha took to the micro-blogging site and wrote: “One rain and the city comes to a standstill. Good governance is not about selfies and making us do yoga, it’s making sure your citizens are safe.”
The post, many thought, took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who emphasises the importance of yoga and has made headlines for going on a selfie spree on several occasions.
But, in a statement issued on Monday, Neha said that “the intention of my tweet was never to demean or personally attack anyone”.
Her statement read: “It was the mere frustration of a helpless citizen of Mumbai. I’ve tried to take the high road on the outcome and ignore the people who’ve abused me and my family ad nauseam online.
“But I was intimidated as protestors stood outside my house. I am grateful to our police for protecting us and request people to see that my words were about a subject and not a person. My goal was never to hurt anyone’s sentiments.
“I have wholeheartedly and consistently supported the government’s movements like ‘Yoga Day’ and ‘Swachh Bharat’ as I will do in the future as well. I hope we can focus on the issues that matter and that my appeal to improve our civic amenities is taken in the right way.”
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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