Entertainment
‘Dance+’ finalist ‘Ticko’ hopes to choreograph Hrithik
By Gaurav Chhabra
Judge of reality show ‘Dance+’ Shakti Mohan along with contestant and one of the finalists Poppin Ticko was present in Lucknow to promote their show which is approaching grand finale in coming weeks.
Remo D’ Souza is the super judge of this show that is aired on Star Plus and is getting a fine response from the audience in terms of TRP.
Poppin Ticko was in Lucknow and discussed his journey from being a science background student to the very different style dancer and expert of popping.
Excerpts from his conversation with Gaurav Chhabra:
What made you enter into the dancing career coming from a science background?
I had been studious and was very much interested in studying science. It was just after the school exams and before taking admission in college, a friend of mine came with a video on Youtube that had a different style of dance in it. Seeing that and doing few steps made me fall for the dancing passion.
You thought of making dancing as a career?
No, initially not but then gradually as I went for competitions and attended workshops conducted by various international talents and I felt this could be the route I want to take.
From where this “Ticko word came?
This is a very interesting thing to tell you. As I went to perform on stage the co-performers gave me this name and these kinds of names are said to be stage names.
At what point of time you felt you are growing as a dancer?
Initially I started this just for my fun and passion then while I was studying in DU I got the opportunities to take part in many of the inter college competitions and in fact I won many of them. Key boost for me was when in 2014 I went to Chennai for some dance competition from where I got chance to represent India in one of the big dancing competitions in which many Asian countries participated, from there on I got guidance from various international talents and the boost for my career.
You portray popping genre of dance, where lies the animation part in it?
Yes, I do have both things in my dance style and many people watching me dance free style do not know where lies the technicality between these two. An animation is something in human where as popping is creating steps like popcorn pops up when made gives the repelling kind of move.
What kind of music makes you get going with this kind of dance genre?
Not the entire songs but just the beats are the main base for popping. One has to move according to the beats to make this dance genre look presentable.
Which actor in the Industry would be perfectly suited to popping?
Not many actually, Hrithik Roshan I think will do this best when compared to others.
Apart from your foreign guides and mentors, which Indian choreographer you admire?
In India I really look upto Prabhu Deva sir, Ganesh sir as they have so much to offer to the audience and are very much professional in their field.
Where you see yourself in coming few years subsequent to this reality show?
I have got name and fame both by this show. I was looking for some kind of platform that can make me present this different style of dancing in front of the audience. I would like to go US and France to learn more technicalities of popping and then would make the dance lovers aware about popping.
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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