Entertainment
69th Cannes Film Festival kicks off in France
Paris:The 69th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) officially kicked off on Wednesday evening in the southern French sea resort of Cannes.
Following the red carpet where the jury and the crew of the opening film were presented to the grand public, the opening ceremony, hosted by French comedian Laurent Lafitte, took place in the Palace of the Festival.
This year’s opening film was chosen to be Woody Allen’s latest film “Cafe Society”. Having already opened the festival twice, “Hollywood Ending” in 2002 and “Midnight in Paris” in 2011, Woody Allen has opened three times the festival, according to Xinhua.
The film, starring Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg, tells the story of a young man who arrives in Hollywood during the 1930s hoping to work in the film industry, falls in love, and finds himself swept up in the vibrant cafe society that defined the spirit of the age.
This is also the 14th ‘Out of Competition’ selection at Cannes for the American director, screenwriter, actor, writer and comedian.
When asked about why he doesn’t participate in the main competition, Allen said: “I don’t believe in competition for artistic things. It’s all very subjective”.
As for the jury of the main competition, it is composed of nine people, headed by Australian film director George Miller whose “Mad Max: Fury Road” was premiered during last year’s festival.
Heavily criticised for the lack of women’s presence in the festival, this year’s jury includes four females, actress Kirsten Dunst from the US, producer Katayoon Shahabi from Iran, actress and director Valeria Golino from Italy, and French actress Vanessa Paradis.
Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, who starred “Hunger Games” and Chinese movie “Da Waner” (directed by Feng Xiaogang), is also among the jury.
A total of 21 films, including three Asian films, were selected among the 1869 films in April to compete for the top prize Palme d’Or of this annual film event.
According to the figures of the organiser, about 40,000 film industry professionals are participating in this year’s Cannes Film Festival, including 4,500 journalists from around the world.
The 69th Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) runs from May 11 to 22 in Cannes.
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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