Entertainment
Oscars have bigger controversies: Anil Kapoor
Mumbai:Actor Anil Kapoor has defended the controversies that surround award shows in Bollywood, saying even the Oscars have its share of controversies, which are sometimes even bigger.
“As they say, the grass is always greener (on the other side). Because you are here (Indian film industry), you don’t know what’s happening there (internationally). So the kind of controversies that happen here, sometimes the controversies there are more than that,” Kapoor said on Thursday at a press conference to announce the Zee Cine Awards, where he will be performing.
“And this year too, at the Oscars, there have been big controversies, certain sections feel that they have not been fair, that it’s not been that diverse in their choice of nominations. These things keep happening, lobbying also takes place,” the “24” actor said.
There has been a controversy with the all-white nominations at the Oscars this year with numerous artistes voicing their opinions on the issue.
Kapoor, who was a part of Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire”, recently won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Dil Dhadakne Do”.
“Ultimately, you can see that this year I have received an award but it’s after so many years and that doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to get awards. So somewhere it is genuine that I didn’t get the award. My work in all films is good, tell me in which film I didn’t do good work.”
“All big stars do good work every year, but we don’t get awards every year, so somewhere there is a certain integrity in the awards. And you are not in America or Los Angeles, and even there all kinds of controversies happen. The ones who win feel it is genuine and the ones who don’t win find something fishy,” the actor said.
The Zee Cine Awards ceremony, to be held on February 20, will be hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Karan Johar.
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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