Charlie McBrearty’s West Hollywood-based independent firm Shortlist has taken on Los Angeles-headquartered Bruce Dowad Associates and New York-based Brand New School for representation on the West Coast and in Texas. Additionally, Shortlist is handling Texas for Elias Arts, bicoastal. And coming aboard Shortlist as a rep is Vanessa McLean, formerly of Plum Productions, Santa Monica….Connor Swegle has joined Click 3X, New York, as national broadcast sales representative….Rob Russo Promotions, New York, is handling East Coast sales for director Charles Oliver of Metropolis Productions, Salt Lake City….Cinematographer Ben Davis has signed with ICM in the United States. The Los Angeles-headquartered ICM will handle him in all areas, including features, TV, commercials and music videos. Davis recently wrapped work on the Sony Classics feature Layer Cake for Matthew Vaughan. The cinematographer is also no stranger to spots, having worked regularly with director Daniel Barber….Production designer Kenny Baird has signed with Innovative Artists, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation in 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