Director David Frankham has joined bicoastal Smuggler. He was most recently with bicoastal The Artists Company….In partnership with bicoastal Cohn+Company, music video house Notorious Pictures, also bicoastal, has launched a commercial division and has signed U.K.-based director Tim Hope for spot representation in the U.S. The 2-D/3-D/live-action helmer was featured in Saatchi & Saatchi’s New Directors Showcase at the 2002 Cannes International Advertising Festival. He continues to work through London-based Passion Pictures for commercials outside the U.S., as well as for music videos…..Cine International and DRSA have merged to create Cine/DRSA International, New York. Valerie Light, Paul Rosen and Don Stogo will be partners/executive producers at the new company, which will be a division of Screen Gems….Commercial editorial company Harley’s House and music/sound design shop Primal Scream have entered into a creative alliance to provide ad agencies with a full slate of services from the same site. Primal Scream has moved into new headquarters, part of the recently expanded Harley’s House facility in Santa Monica. Per the deal, both companies maintain their current ownership and are free to work with other editing and music/sound design houses…..Editor Louis Lyne has joined Griot Editorial, Southfield, Mich….The partners of Boston editorial facility Spot, Larry Andersen and Carl MacNeal, have parted ways and are now running separate edit houses. Andersen is retaining the Spot name and relocating the company to nearby offices. MacNeal will be launching Edit Pod, Boston, also in a new location….New York-headquartered production company The Firm has signed London-based director Laurie Castelli for stateside commercial representation. Castelli is repped for spots in Europe by Democracy, London….Creative concept/design company Room and creative editorial house Cutting Room, sister shops based in Venice, Calif., have brought Greg Everage on board as executive producer….. Executive producer Dina Chang and senior editor Arash Ayrom have joined Humunculus, a Venice, Calif.-based broadcast design and animation house recently launched by founder Saam Gabbay who shares creative director duties with writer/director/producer/designer Brumby Boylston….
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