Amber Music has added composers Leo Sidran and Phil Mossman. Sidran produced the Oscar-winning song “Al Otro Lado Del Rio” from The Motorcycle Diaries. Mossman is a member of the group LCD Soundsystem. Both will be based in the New York office of Amber, which also maintains operations in London and Los Angeles….Audio post mixer Sonia Castro has joined Juice, the Santa Monica shop headed by owner/chief audio architect Alex Alba. Castro comes over from Santa Monica-based 48 Windows and prior to that was with AudioBanks, Santa Monica. She has mixed for assorted clients, including regional work for BMW, and campaigns for Jack in the Box and Carl’s Jr. Castro has mixed for the two latter advertisers over the past decade-plus….Bob Giammarco of audioEngine, New York and Phoenix, provided sound design and audio post mixing for a black-and-white PSA for the Men’s Anti-violence Network (an initiative of the Arizona Foundation for Women), directed and shot by Sergio Arguello of Suns Productions, Phoenix, via agency Cramer-Krasselt, Phoenix. In the spot, Phoenix Suns’ forward Brian Grant discusses the difference between the roughness encountered in a basketball game and that in a domestic violence situation. “A lot happens in a game,” says Grant as he practices shooting hoops, his movements echoing in an empty court. “It’s intense.” He walks right up to the camera and smacks it with the palm of his hand. The camera shakes and blurs, as we hear the thunderous sound of impending danger. When a player does it during a game, he gets a technical foul. “But when an abuser does it, they’re just getting started,” relates Grant. The PSA concludes with contact info for the Men’s Anti-violence network, a group of more than 100 business and community leaders dedicated to stopping–and increasing public awareness of–domestic violence…..Creative director/partner Dave Hodge of Finger Music, Venice, Calif.–who’s active in spots (i.e., Coca-Cola, Dodge)–is slated to play several tour dates in California, Texas, Washington and Oregon with indie rock band Broken Social Scene. This marks the second Broken Social Scene outing for Hodge, who hit the road with the band this past summer, appearing at European summer festivals, as well as in New York. Hodge, who plays trombone, will also be performing with Broken Social Scene’s supporting act, recording artist Feist, whose new album, Let It Die, is in stores now.
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