Aardman Animations, Bristol, U.K., has parted ways with independent rep Nancy Jacobs, ending a 15-year relationship. Jacobs handled East Coast representation for the animation studio, which is slated to soon announce its new arrangement on the East Coast. During the interim, Aardman’s Bristol-based head of commercials/executive producer Heather Wright will be fielding inquiries from the East Coast…..Nikki Weiss & Co., Chicago, has signed director/DP Ken Arlidge of Aero Films, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation in the Midwest (excluding Detroit)…Red Truck Films, Raleigh, N.C., has signed independent rep Michael Eha to handle the company for commercial production….Sabrina Mehar has joined New York-based digital production studio Click 3x as in-house sales and marketing associate. She joins Click 3x from repping agency Miller Arnold, which represents Click on the East Coast….Global Production Network (GPN), Los Angeles, has added to its roster of production services companies, signing a deal to handle North American representation for Iceland-based Truenorth, which is headed by exec producer Leifur Dagfinnsson…..
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