Director Robert Logevall is joining bicoastal Anonymous Content….Director Nick Brandt, formerly of Los Angeles-based Palomar Pictures, has come aboard bicoastal/international Believe Media….Film Roman, the independent animation studio best known for The Simpsons and King of the Hill, has acquired VanHook Studios, a Hollywood CG/special effects house, which now becomes Forum Visual Effects, a division of Film Roman. Kevin VanHook and his staff, including effects artists Chadd B. Cole and Vince Di Meglio, form the core of Forum Visual Effects, which is based on the Film Roman premises in North Hollywood. The deal enables Film Roman’s spot division to access Forum’s 3-D/visual effects talent and resources. Film Roman Commercials continues to be headed by VP/exec producer Kathee Schneider….Editor Terence Ziegler has joined Rhinoceros Editorial, New York. Ziegler was most recently freelancing; prior to that, he was with now defunt Invisible Dog….Mad River Post, Dallas, has added editor Gigi Cone Welch….The Cutting Room floor is now also home to newly formed creative concept/production/design company Room, which features executive director Flavio (Kampah) Campagna, creative directors/designers TJ Webber and Ladzarus, senior producer Sabrina Mance, producer Jill Henrich and founder/director Victor Ginzburg. The Room and editorial/post house The Cutting Room are based in the same Venice, Calif., complex….Mark Hukezalie, Daniel LeBlanc and Bob Johnston have launched Goldfish Music, Toronto…. Composer Jason Steele has joined HUM Music+Sound Design, Santa Monica….Headroom Digital Audio, New York, has added audio engineer Scott Persson to its roster….
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More