Entertainment
Majidi’s ‘Beyond The Clouds’ gets new release date
Mumbai, Feb 15 (IANS) Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s maiden India-set project “Beyond The Clouds”, featuring Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor’s younger brother Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan, is set to release worldwide on April 20.
Earlier, the film was scheduled to open on March 23.
“Beyond The Clouds” narrates a heart-warming tale of a brother and sister, and how they find happiness in separation and turbulent times. The film celebrates the triumph and adoration of life against a Mumbai backdrop.
“The demand internationally like India has grown manifold and to ensure that we create a single release window across the globe for a movie of this stature from such a renowned and respected filmmaker like Majid Majidi, it was but natural to have a date which works across the globe,” Sujay Kutty, Business Head, Zee Studios, said in a statement.
“The film has many firsts for us to be proud of — an all India team under Majidi’s leadership, a platform for two brilliant debutants and an India story showcased by such a legendary artiste. We decided to make this change in the release date as not everyday you get such an opportunity with such promise and such brilliant talent,” Kutty added.
Talking about this development, producer Shareen Mantri Kedia of Namah Pictures, said: “‘Beyond The Clouds’ is a film that demanded a worldwide release given the excitement for Majidi’s content across the globe. He is a visionary whose emotional connectivity and narrative transcends the boundaries and limitations of language.
“We are glad that audiences and fans across the globe will now be able to simultaneously share the experience of Majid Majidi’s magic as it comes alive on April 20.”
–IANS
sug/nn/bg
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