Just two years after the opening of its New York office, international creative agency Sid Lee is launching its second US operation, to be located in the Los Angeles headquarters of the Movember Foundation, the global organization committed to changing the face of men’s health by raising funds and awareness for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health. Under the leadership of Will Travis, Sid Lee USA CEO and sr. partner, the NY shop has turned out work for such clients as Absolut, adidas, Calvin Klein, Facebook, Intel, Pepsico and Tiffany & Co. Now with expanded relationships with 99 Cent Only Stores and Cirque du Soleil, the West Coast expansion has taken hold, giving the agency seven offices, joining the group headquarters in Montreal and ateliers in Amsterdam, Toronto, Calgary and Paris. The L.A. office will be led by managing partner Nicolas Van Erum….
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