Alan Irvin, former executive creative director of Grey Worldwide South Africa, has jumped over to the commercial production house side of the business, becoming a director at Picture Tree, Johannesburg…….New York-based mister boomboom, a label of bicoastal/international Believe Media, has added director Alistair Taylor-Young to its roster. Taylor-Young is well established in Europe but new to the American ad market; he is slated to move from London to Manhattan next month……Meanwhile designer and live-action director Monica Perez has come aboard Believe Media to helm spots and music videos. She previously served as a designer, creative director and commercial director at global creative agency Attik, New York and San Francisco, for six years…..Attik has opened its first permanent office in Southern California. Initially the West Hollywood quarters will be working on the Scion account. Rachel Newell, Attik’s West Coast business manager, continues to work out of the firm’s San Francisco office. Attik additionally maintains a New York office and its European headquarters in Leeds, England….Rhythm & Hues Commercial Studios, Los Angeles, has signed director Mark Dippe. Additionally, Lisa White has been promoted to head of production at the shop’s Commercial Digital operation….Director Adam Stevens has joined Notorious 24:7, Santa Monica, for U.S. spot representation. His work for New Zealand beverage brand L&P made this year’s Cannes short list and earned a gold award for direction at the ’05 Axis Awards of New Zealand….Washington Square Films, New York, has launched Washington Square International, headed by executive producer Brian Morris. The new venture opens with three directors: Steven Fong, Leandro Sanchez and Nick Santana. Washington Square International is repping these helmers to the general market, to U.S.-based Hispanic and Asian ad agencies, and to multicultural ad shops in foreign countries….Senior producer Andrea Sertz, formerly of bicoastal Brand New School, has come aboard bicoastal Transistor Studios. Meanwhile, relocating stateside is design director Anders Schroder, who’s now based in Transistor’s Venice, Calif., office….Tammy Walters, acting executive producer at FlickerLab, has become a partner in the New York-based design/animation studio….Creative director Mikon Van Gastel and executive producer Saffron Kenny–both formerly of bicoastal Imaginary Forces–have launched A Very Small Office, a design-driven live-action studio in New York….. Charlex, New York, won a BDA World Gold Award for its M&M’s “River Rock” spot via BBDO New York….The Omnilab Group, one of Australia’s largest privately owned media services companies, has acquired AAV Limited’s Digital Media Services group, which includes Digital Pictures Melbourne and Sydney, Iloura Melbourne, Comcopy Imagestream, Flagstaff Studios, Digital Pictures Interactive, AAV PAX, AAV New Zealand, and a 50 percent stake in DubSat. Omnilab adds these assets to its existing independent businesses, which include: The Lab Sydney, Ambience Entertainment, The Playroom Sydney, Cornerpost and Island Films….
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