Liz Laine Reps, Chicago, has expanded its representation of graphic, live action and motion design house Eyeball to include New York. Liz Laine Reps continues to handle the NYC-based Eyeball in the Midwest and on the West Coast. Liz Laine Reps pairs Liz Laine with Katy Richter; the indie firm represents a stable of animation companies and directors….Grace & Wild Studios, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich., has brought Josh Yurich aboard as director of business development. He will explore new business opportunities and assist in the expansion of the company’s interactive media service offerings. Yurich spent the past two years assisting with the startup of Digital Extensions, a global digital production agency based in Miami. During his time there, he built and maintained relationships with traditional and digital agencies throughout the Midwest and East Coast, and sold website and microsite design/development, social media applications, and mobile applications….DP Jan Richter Friis and costume designer Kelle Kutsugeras are now repped exclusively by WME for features, commercials and music videos….
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