Entertainment
Sidharth Malhotra chosen as Tourism New Zealand’s Indian ambassador
Mumbai: Young and dashing Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra has been named the first Indian ambassador for Tourism New Zealand, which markets New Zealand as a visitor destination.
He is excited to embark on a visit to the picturesque land to experience its diverse landscapes, culture and adventure activities.
As a lover of nature, great outdoors and extreme sports, Sidharth is looking forward to visiting New Zealand later this month.
During his trip, he will be visiting both the North and South Islands, getting a chance to soak in the joys of an array of activities and an experience of the country’s local Maori culture.
Talking about it, Sidharth said in a statement: “I’ve heard from my friends about the many activities that New Zealand has to offer and I’m very excited for this trip. I’m a traveller who believes in experiencing everything that a destination offers and New Zealand has so much to offer.”
He is especially “gearing up for some hardcore adventure such as skydive, SkyWalk and diving. I can’t wait to experience the local wildlife in New Zealand. I have also heard extensively about the food and wine, Maori culture and other unique experiences that the country offers,” he added.
The actor, who has amassed a fan following with roles in entertainers like “Student of the Year”, “Hasee Toh Phasee”, “Ek Villain” and “Brothers”, has managed to capture the attention of youth in particular. And that’s evident by the over 4.3 million followers that he has on social media.
While in New Zealand, he is is also upbeat about interacting with some of his fans during his trip to the Kiwi land, which is replete with spectacular landscapes – from vast mountain ranges, steaming volcanoes to sweeping coastlines.
Officials at Tourism New Zealand are also trying to ensure that Sidharth has an experience of a lifetime.
“Sidharth is young and dynamic, and extremely keen to experience New Zealand’s offerings. From adventure activities to food and wine experiences, local culture to luxury indulgence, New Zealand is gearing up to surprise Sidharth at every step of his journey. We look forward to hosting him and making him feel at home,” said Steven Dixon, regional manager, South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand.
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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