Snug, the Santa Monica-based production house recently launched by director Michael Grasso, has signed independent rep Arthur Portnoy to handle the East Coast….Bicoastal Trollback + Company has entered into a relationship with Brent Novick of independent rep firm Novick Inc. for sales on the West Coast….Visual Music, Woodland Hills, Calif., has signed independent rep Jack Lewis of Lewis & Associates to handle the Midwest….Charlie McBrearty and Vanessa McLean of Los Angeles-based independent rep firm Shortlist have taken on the West Coast for director Robert Bryant of bicoastal Order. The rest of Order’s directorial roster continues to be handled out West by indie rep Connie Mellors of Connie Mellors & Company, Toluca Lake, Calif….Red Truck Films, Raleigh, N.C., has signed directors Tracy Helms and Michael Ivey for exclusive representation in the Southeast…..Orlando Management, Sherman Oaks, Calif., has signed DP Ralph Linhardt for exclusive representation. His credits include spots for Clairol, Lexus, Top Flite, X-Box, Panda Express, Fuji Film and Southern California Edison….Production designers Paul Dove and Stephen Sinclair have signed with bicoastal Paradigm for exclusive representation….Wardrobe stylist Kelle Kutsugersa has signed with the Montana Artists Agency, Los Angeles, for spot and feature representation….DP Tim Suhrstedt is now available through Innovative Artists, Santa Monica, for commercials after wrapping principal photography on Little Miss Sunshine with directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (whose spot roost is Bob Industries, Santa Monica)….
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