Bicoastal Tool of North America has signed The company P, a Swedish content and design studio that creates participant drama and social entertainment. This genre takes a single story and encourages active viewer participation by utilizing trans-media opportunities, including TV broadcasting, interactive technology, social media, mobile communication and online games. Tool will represent the company and produce projects with its digital and production resources, applying the participatory entertainment approach to those jobs.
The company P’s games, shows, and content are created in collaboration with their audience following the same basic open philosophy that has led to the success of open-source software programs. Leading industry experts, researchers from game and ICT academia, artists and enthusiasts joined forces to create the company, and the combined strength of their individual influences is reflected in the broad array of work that the studio pushes out.
“Today’s entertainment consumers are immersed in an environment in which their day-to-day lives are completely interactive. What they do at The company P is basically fulfill that growing demand for a say in the action by applying familiar concepts of participation with the familiar format of TV and the Internet, essentially creating a new genre,” noted Tool exec producer Brian Latt. “We want to expand this concept into the commercial world, and we think The company P is exactly the right partner to make this happen.”
Headed by CEO Christopher Sandberg, The company P has recently completed a production with Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and is currently in development on interactive entertainment properties with Tim Kring (creator of Heroes). The company P’s past work includes the Interactive Emmy-winning production of The Truth About Marika, a participant drams and TV series; Momentum, a techno-occult pervasive game; Outstanding, a participatory exhibition at the Museum of World Culture; scriptwriting and design for Furiae, an episodic dark fantasy RPG for mobile and PC; and XOver TV, an innovative broadcasting format that allows audiences to participate through avatars as studio guests.
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