Composer Robert Miller has exited Amber Music, New York and London, and is launching his own as-of-yet-unnamed music studio in New York with executive producer Vera Pandolfo. She was formerly producing at New York agency Amster Yard….West Hollywood-based production house Copper Media and executive producer Thom Sidoti have parted ways….Brad Stratton, former VP/music producer and director of music production at D’Arcy, New York, has joined Fluid, New York, in the position of senior music producer….Echo Boys, Minneapolis, has signed sound designer/audio engineer Ken Chastain….Atlanta-based Crawford Post Production has added editor Terry Boyer. He was formerly with now defunct Click 3X Atlanta as senior editor….Michael Mees has joined Ohio Edit, New York, as senior editor. He was most recently freelancing on longform projects, and prior to that was with Spot Welders, Venice, Calif.…Billy Pittard, former president/CEO of now defunct design house Pittard Sullivan, has been named president of SupplyMan Inc., a new Los Angeles-based company looking to serve as an online shopping mall for the film, TV and commercial production communities via its www.supplyman.com service. Initially, set construction supplies can be ordered through the service. Over the next few months, supplies and services for the full range of film and TV production will become available via supplyman.com….Lee Garfinkel, president/chief creative officer worldwide for D’Arcy, has been named to the Film Jury for the Cannes International Advertising Festival. The Jury is chaired by Jeff Goodby, co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco….
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