Entertainment
Leaders are usually misunderstood: Chadwick Boseman
By Kishori Sud
Seoul, Feb 5 (IANS) Hollywood actor Chadwick Boseman, whose role in the film “Black Panther” is that of a leader and superhero, says leaders are often “misunderstood”.
Directed by Ryan Coogler, the film has been hailed as a fresh superhero take and the most political movie yet from the house of Marvel Studios as it addresses issues like identity, diversity, inclusion and history.
“Black Panther” is about a prince of a fictitious African nation of Wakanda who becomes a superhero known as Black Panther.
Present here at a press conference, Boseman, who plays T’Challa in the film, told media: “The idea that T’Challa is the leader of a nation that is most technologically advanced on the continent of Africa… It’s an intriguing notion to a lot of people. In fact, it points to history of Africa which we sort of combined.
“As far as the character is concerned, he is a leader and also a superhero. He is facing the consequences that world leaders usually have to deal with.
“Leaders are usually misunderstood because they have more information and there are reasons why you made a decision that you made. People very often accuse them of not taking the action they expect them to take. T’Challa is placed on all those equations.
However, Baseman pointed out the distinct difference between the character in the film and the leaders.
“Unlike a dictator or a president that you see now, he puts on a suit to deal with the situation. And in reality, they would turn into their military or sorts. That itself is a revolutionary idea and also within his country, he is dealing with the set traditions where people are isolated from the rest of the world… The idea that he is breaking those wires of isolation… That is revolutionary,” he said.
Boseman was here to promote the movie with co-stars Lupita Nyongo and Michael B Jordon and Coogler.
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the eighteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The film also features Dana Gurira, Martin Freeman , Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright , Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis among others.
It will release in India on February 16.
(The writer’s trip is at the invitation of Disney. She can be contacted at [email protected])
–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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