The Scientific and Technical Awards Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that nine scientific and technical achievements have been selected for further awards consideration.
The list is made public to allow individuals and companies with similar devices or claims of prior art the opportunity to submit their achievements for review. The deadline to submit additional entries is Tuesday, August 30, at 11:59 p.m. PST.
The committee has selected the following methods or devices for further consideration:
* Micro-Voxel Volume Rendering (Side Effects Software, Inc.)
* Mova CONTOUR Dense Mesh Motion Capture (Mova)
* ARRI Zeiss Master Primes Lens Family (ARRI, Inc.)
* Phantom High-Speed Cameras for Motion Picture Production (Vision Research. Inc.)
* Pictorvision Eclipse (Pictorvision, Inc.)
* RealD Cinema System for Theatrical Projection of Stereoscopic Content (RealD)
* The “Lowry Process” (Reliance MediaWorks)
* FUJIFILM Black and White Recording Film ENTERNA-RDS for Archive (FUJIFILM North America Corporation)
* And Lyre Microphone Suspension (Rycote Microphone Windshields, Ltd.)
After thorough investigations are conducted on each of the entries, the committee will meet in early December to vote on recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors, which will make the final awards decisions.
The 2011 Scientific and Technical Awards will be presented at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills on Saturday, February 11, 2012.
Claims of prior art or similar technology must be submitted on the site www.oscars.org. For further information, contact Awards Administration Director Rich Miller’s office at (310) 247-3000, ext. 1131, or via e-mail at scitech@oscars.org.
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