Hollywood-headquartered Post Logic has closed its Santa Monica visual effects unit Creo Collective. Creo had been winding down operations since the beginning of the year, and wrapped its final job over the past couple of weeks…..Word is that director Eden Diebel, formerly of bicoastal HKM Productions, has come aboard Great Guns: USA, Santa Monica, for spot representation….Director Alex Proyas is back from a two-year hiatus on the feature film I Robot and is again taking on spots via bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures–the first being for Goodyear via Leagas Delaney…..The Film, Recording and Entertainment Council (FREC) has launched in Florida. The collective of recording, post, film, TV, radio, production, graphics and other creative companies is primarily from South Florida and hopes to promote economic development for the industry in that region. The group’s Web site address is www.frecouncil.org….At press time, Los Angeles was about to unveil a Film Inventory Management System Web site that will enable users to access info about lesser known lensing locations throughout the city….
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