Amy Hassler has joined editorial/post house charlieuniformtango, Dallas and Austin, as marketing director. Founded by Lola Lott and Jack Waldrip in 1995, charlieuniformtango added two sister shops in ’08–production house Liberal Media Films, and web content creation/production firm DigiTango. Hassler, who has a decade-plus of production and post experience, will head up business development and target opportunities in the digital space, especially in 3D. Her most recent work includes a viral campaign for Microsoft Office via Razorfish and other digital work for Honda from RPA. Prior to charlieuniformtango, Hassler worked as an EP for Santa Monica-based Shade…..Cinematographer Jakob Ihre has completed principal photography on Daryl Wein’s Lola Versus and is again available for commercials and features through The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica….Dattner Dispoto and Associates has signed production designer Jason Fijal….Costume designer Jason Alper has wrapped The Dictator directed by Larry Charles and starring Sacha Baron Cohen, and is again available for spots via WME….
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