Entertainment
Kamal Haasan embarks formally on his political journey
Chennai, Feb 21 (IANS) Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday formally began his political journey by first visiting former President late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s residence in Rameswaram.
He will be unveiling his party’s name and the flag at a public rally later in the day in Madurai.
Kamal met the former President’s elder brother and other family members at the residence in Rameswaram, around 600 km from here. “Greatness can come from simple beginnings,” he said.
“Actually it will come only from simplicity. Glad to start my journey from a great man’s simple abode,” the actor added in a tweet.
However his second halt at the government school in Mandapam where Kalam studied got cancelled as the district administration did not give permission, according to reports reaching here.
Speaking to a television channel a leader of a Hindu outfit said they had opposed Kamal’s visit to the school as he was trying to gain political mileage and nothing more.
Later speaking to the fishing community in Rameswaram, Haasan said that it is one of the most important industry in Tamil Nadu. He would be back to listen to the suggestions made by the fisherfolks.
Several flags in white with Tamil Nadu map in black, sporting the tag line “Naalai Namadhe” meaning “Tomorrow is Ours” were seen flying in Rameswaram.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu unit leader Tamilisai Soundararajan told reporters that Kamal appeared to have “started a political party to compete against someone”.
She said while anyone can float a political party, Tamil Nadu is not in a situation where only Kamal can save it.
On the other hand Dalit party leader Thol. Thirumavalan told reporters that Kamal and Rajinikanth are agents of the BJP to affect DMK in Tamil Nadu.
–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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