Phillip Collins has departed bicoastal Atherton after two years as director of marketing and sales. Collins explained that he had attained key marketing goals for the shop, and agreed with Atherton’s partners that "returning to the independent rep structure is now best for the company." Atherton is currently repped by Tracy Bernard & Associates in the Midwest and by Carol Biedermann on the West Coast. Via its recently announced production agreement with Dallas-based Concrete Films (SHOOT, 1/21, p. 7), Atherton is repped in Texas and the Southeast by Concrete principal Lisa Cobb. Atherton has not yet named an East Coast rep. Prior to Atherton, Collins served as director of marketing for Industrial Light+Magic Commercial Productions, San Rafael and Los Angeles. He is currently in discussions with other companies….Cathlyn Cantone has joined Division 6, New York, as executive director/marketing and development. Division 6 is the commercial production division of New York-based National Video Center….Unleaded Music, New York, has named Yoanne Al-Hassan East Coast head of sales…. Montana Artists, Santa Monica, is repping production designers Stan Harris and Steve Kimmel for commercials and music videos….DPs Todd A. dos Reis and Steve Bernstein have finished principal photography on the independent films Down To The Last Minute and Christmas In The Clouds, respectively. Both are now available through the Lyons•Sheldon•Prosnit Agency, Los Angeles….
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