Welcome to Comcast Town, in which live action folks of all ages are enjoying life in the midst of a unique 3D animation city, cavorting with a cast of penguins, giant squirrels, VHS tapes, dancing ice cream cones and spacemen, among others. In this whimsical setting, people are singing a catchy refrain and the whole community seems to be living to the rhythm of the music which promotes Comcast’s multi-media communication offerings of TV, home phone and faster Internet.
The directorial duo of Smith & Foulkes of Nexus Productions, London, teamed with their 3D ensemble to build Comcast Town into which the live-action characters were composited for agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Comcast Town shows people, technology and things they can access walking about in the same community. Music and sound design came out of stimmung, Santa Monica.
The Goodby team included creative director/partner Jamie Barrett, group creative director Chris Ford, associate creative director/copywriter Paul Charney, associate creative director/art director Stefan Copiz, lyrics copywriter Andrew Bancroft, exec producer Tanya LeSieur and producer Ashley Sferro.
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