Entertainment
Wahlberg donates $1.5 million in Williams’ name
Los Angeles, Jan 14 (IANS) Actor Mark Wahlberg has donated $1.5 million to the Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund in the name of his “All the Money in the World” co-star Michelle Williams.
The donation comes in response to criticism over a gender pay gap for re-shoots of the movie “All the Money in the World”. Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million for the re-shoot while Williams made just around $1,000, or $80 a day, reports cnn.com.
“Over the last few days my re-shoot fee for ‘All the Money in the World’ has become an important topic of conversation,” Wahlberg said in a statement.
“I 100 per cent support the fight for fair pay and I’m donating the $1.5 million to the Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund in Michelle Williams’ name.”
William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), the talent agency that represents both Wahlberg and Williams, also announced it would make a $500,000 donation to the fund, again in Williams’ name. The organisation had donated $1 million to the fund earlier this month.
Williams issued a statement in response to the donation on Saturday, reports cnn.com.
“If we truly envision an equal world, it takes equal effort and sacrifice,” her statement read in part.
“Today is one of the most indelible days of my life because of Mark Wahlberg, WME and a community of women and men who share in this accomplishment. Anthony Rapp, for all the shoulders you stood on, now we stand on yours.”
Rapp alleged in a Buzzfeed story published in late October that Kevin Spacey made a sexual advance towardS him at a party in 1986. Rapp was 14 years old then.
Spacey issued a statement claiming he did not recall the alleged incident with Rapp, but he apologised for what he said would have been “deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour”.
As a result of Rapp’s allegations and others, director Ridley Scott decided to re-shoot scenes from “All the Money in the World” that included Spacey.
–IANS
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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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