Entertainment
‘Sarbjit’ may spark protest against unfair detentions:Randeep Hooda
New Delhi:Actor Randeep Hooda hopes Bollywood film “Sarbjit”, which tells the hard-hitting story of an Indian farmer who was held captive and eventually died in a Pakistan jail, becomes the basis of protest against cases wherein people are punished merely for their origin.
Directed by Omung Kumar, “Sarbjit” is based on the real life story of Sarabjit Singh, who was convicted by Pakistani courts for spying and terrorism. He languished in a Pakistani jail for 23 years starting 1990, while his sister Dalbir Kaur, tried vigorously to get him released.
Randeep, who essays the title role in the movie, told reporters here: “Sarabjit was tortured because he was an Indian rather than for what he was accused of. The film brings that point out.
“If in India we are doing this to Pakistanis, then it’s wrong.”
The actor cited the example of Mumbai-based engineer Hamid N. Ansari, who was sentenced to jail for three years by a Pakistani military court for espionage after he had crossed over to Pakistan from Afghanistan in 2012 and then went missing. He was later arrested and tried by a Pakistani military court, which pronounced him guilty of espionage.
Randeep pointed out: “Both sides (India and Pakistan) should extend their hand now. Pakistan has an opportunity to extend a hand towards our government via his (Ansari’s) case and India too has this opportunity to start making things right, perhaps. The honest people caught up on both sides should be released in this.
“‘Sarbjit’ could definitely work as a basis of protest against the unfair, it might just shake things up and bring one’s separated people together.”
Referring to the India-Pakistan partition, Randeep said “the division between brotherhood was a stupidity”.
The actor was here to promote “Sarbjit” — featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in a pivotal role as Dalbir Kaur.
Randeep believes “a family culture is very much” embedded in India.
“After watching the movie, you will appreciate your family more,” said the actor, who has Richa Chadha in the role of his onscreen wife in the movie.
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.
Content provided by Adverloom