Entertainment
I did not choose Bigg Boss 11 to alter my image: Vikas Gupta
Mumbai : The most controversial and entertaining reality show Bigg Boss 11 will launch tonight. 10 contestants will get locked in the house to spend more than 100 days with 90 cameras scooping all the gossips . Popular television personality Vikas Gupta has been roped in as a celeb contestant. Though he has a path-breaking career, his controversial past brought him more fame. Before entering the show, Vikas said that he wants to project his real, entertaining and fun self on the house than dig up his past for content. He averred, “I am a record holder of being the youngest guy to head two channels. I am not even a graduate and have built my career from the scratch. Always being behind the camera, it’s going to be difficult and a different experience for me in the show. But that’s the challenge that got me excited.”
Last year Vikas was involved in an ugly controversy with Parth Samthaan. The two were allegedly in a relationship and as they had a fallout, both accused each other of playing dirty with them. When asked if he is entering the show to clear out the issue, Vikas shot back, “I am not entering the show to alter any image. I am not a kid and don’t run away from my past, I wouldn’t change anything that happened in my life. But yes, through the show I want people to know the real Vikas. It’s really easy to judge people but one should have known what I went through, before labeling me guilty.”
Stating that since he has always been away from family, Bigg Boss will not be haunting for him, the young producer added, “From the age of three I was in a boarding school and at the age of 17, I moved to Mumbai so I am used to surviving by myself. But in the last two years, I have really got close to my mother, who shifted with me, and I am going to miss her a lot.”
A close associate of Ekta Kapoor, Vikas has a warm bond with most of the television stars. He was also in news recently after he was caught by shutterbugs with Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara Khan. With a fan following of himself, Vikas is touted to be one of the strongest contestants this season.
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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