For the millions of subscribers to the Vertigo News feed I wanted to put in a post to let you know that we have updated our blog engine to Wordpress and are in the process of moving all of our Blog and News content over to a new home – The Wire.  The Wire is our new blog where we will continue to share the latest news and happenings from Vertigo.  While on the surface not much has changed we are setting down a foundation to help better leverage the latest in web technologies to showcase our latest work.

Today is a big day where we sit on the verge of Windows 8 and the new Build Windows conference.  Subscribe to the new blog to follow along with how this new world is seen through the eyes of Vertigo.  Thanks!

The Wire Blog – http://thewire.vertigo.com

RSS Subscribe - http://thewire.vertigo.com/?feed=rss2

With all of the work Vertigo has done over the past few years with online video there is a unique interest in all things HTML5 Video.  While our previous work for Sunday Night Football and the Olympics were done in Silverlight it's natural for us to stay up to date on the latest and greatest video delivery methods.  Increasingly the talk around online video is around HTML5.  A great learning tool people have used to showcase HTML5 Video Element capabilities is the page you see below.  It allows you to toggle and change various conditions of the element and see the video update in real time.  Be wary of the Bunny trailer though.  While cute at first it will haunt you at night if watched repeatedly.

Increasingly customers are coming to Vertigo to assist in making sense out of the current landscape around HTML5 features for not only the desktop but also on mobile phones and tablets.  HTML5 as an umbrella term has strong marketing traction and is finding it’s way into the C-level as a technology choice that signals future thinking.  The danger is in the details though.  When evaluating what the customer wants to build v. where they want to deploy their experience we often have to get into details of what browser technology will be available to their users.  With Vertigo being entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem it is not unheard of for us to run into an IE-only organization.  That is important if there are web-kit specific features the client thinks they may want to use.  Also some customers want to target a specific device such as the iPad2.

To make sense of it all there are a few handy sites that we’ve found to check up on HTML5 and CSS3 compatibility.  Because this landscape is changing daily it is important to double check the information presented across a few sites.  Below is a roundup of some places to check.

HTML5Test

html5test.com

Great for digging into what your browser can do and checking out high level scores of other browsers.  A little tougher to drill down into the individual features across multiple browsers.

HTML5Readiness

html5readiness.com

Put together by Paul Irish (Google) and Divya Manian this site is a great visualizer to the state of various features and browsers.  This is a bit skewed towards Google Chrome as it shows that Chrome supports all features that are visualized.  You can read more about the site here.

caniuse

caniuse.com

If you look closely at html5readiness.com you’ll see that the data they are using to create their visualization is from caniuse.com.  Looking at the site you can see there are a ton of filtering options and it looks like every last detail and spec feature is detailed.  You can slice these views up by feature and/or by browser.  This is the best tool for narrowing in on exactly what features may or may not be available to a customer.

Surely there are a ton more out there and if you have any other tips we can update the post with please shoot us a note over at hello@vertigo.com.

The BUILD Windows conference is 18 days away and here at Vertigo we’re finalizing all the flights and starting to fill up the meeting schedule.  One event that is currently on the radar and where you can be sure to find a few of us at is the <build blogger bash /> hosted by “your favourite Microsoft bloggers and podcasters.”  It’s Wednesday September 14 at 5pm and will be held at Bar Louie Tavern & Grill.  You can find out all the details at their website: http://www.buildbloggerbash.com/.  We hope to see a few of you there.

A little break from our normal tech focused news but we wanted to take the time to remind everyone that we are definitely not robots.  A big part of working at Vertigo is our people and culture.  That not only lives within the walls here at the office but often busts out into the real world.  This past weekend Blake Sorrell (business development manager) put together a great weekend outing to do a little backpacking.

The group headed out to Echo Lake to backpack up to Lake Aloha.  Check out the picture set we put up on Flickr to see some of the fun (Slideshow Link or click the picture below).  And always if you have an itch to come work with a great crew check out our Job Openings or shoot Bee an email [btan@vertigo.com].

It’s back to school time which means our summer interns had to head out last week.  That said, Matt Carrier finished up a cool little project before returning to Sonoma State.  Check out the physics/canvas demo he put together and posted on Vertigo Lab.  This should run on any modern browser that supports HTML5 Canvas.  Here is a nice little table of browser canvas support (link)

Here’s Matt’s description:

Gravity box is a HTML5 canvas demo, which uses the open source Box2DJS physics library. Click, drag and let go inside the colored area of the canvas to make gravity shift in that direction. Drag and let go in a short distance to make the gravity really light, and a longer distance to make it heavier. Tap anywhere in the colored area to turn the gravity off. For best results make sure to be using an HTML5 compatible browser.

Each letter has its own physics bounding box. The bounding box is a tracing of the original shape, but made all with convex polygon shapes at a lower resolution than the image.

Box2D is a physics library written in C++ which was ported to ActionScript3 and then auto converted to JavaScript from ActionScript3.

http://box2d-js.sourceforge.net/

(Click on image below to launch.  Check out all our labs projects at: Vertigo Lab)

A few weeks ago our intern team put together a cool little project that takes advantage of the recently launched Kinect for Windows SDK.  Above you can see a screenshot from the app.  Click to view the video overview they put together.  They use a combination of voice and gesture commands to control a set of drum beats.  Described best as a digital drum machine you can see the highlighted features below.

Check out the full project on the Codeplex site:  Vertigo SoundWall

Full set of Vertigo Lab projects: Vertigo Lab

Youtube Video Link:  Vertigo SoundWall 

Feature Highlights:

- SoundWall will load a grid of 32 blue squares with a continuous beat moving through the grid.

- By default, the cursor is the user’s right hand. Use the yellow cursor ball to navigate through the grid. To change to the left hand bring your right hand above your head and say “SoundWall Left”

- To enable or disable a note, hover over a chosen square for about a second. The square’s sound should be activated once the light beat passes over it. Squares are disabled when they change back to blue.

- SoundWall can be customize based on certain voice commands. To enable a voice command, the user must have their cursor hand above their head while stating the command. ( This is to prevent false audio readings )

Enjoy!

A few weeks ago, May 7, the sports world was focused on the kickoff to the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing with the Kentucky Derby.  While many eyeballs may have been focused on the broadcast on NBC all eyes at Vertigo were watching the race live via the streaming experience on NBCSports.com.  NBCSports.com was using the video player experience originally created by Vertigo.  We were able to catch a few screen grabs of the experience which you can check out below.

Even though Scott’s pick, Dialed In, wasn’t able to overcome Animal Kingdom we’re still pretty happy with the overall results of the day.

A view of the finish with Social and Stats information on the right pane.

Some of the action.  In the lower right you can see the Vertigo branding that is part of the bandwidth monitor.

The #winning has been a bit overused recently but there’s really no other way to put it with Vertigo’s latest news. Yesterday our own Bob Cowherd was out in NYC to attend the 31^st Annual Sports Emmy® Awards. We’re happy to report that our work with NBC for NBCOlympics.com won the Sports Emmy® Award for Outstanding New Approaches – Sports Programming – Short Format for the Countdown to Vancouver. You can see a full list of the nominees here (link).

For a deeper look into the NBCOlympics.com experience please check out our write up on the work on vertigo.com (link). Let’s just hope that the team handling the Emmy ® takes a bit more care of it than Sergio Ramos did with the Copa del Rey championship trophy a few weeks back. (link)

Next Tuesday join some of the Vertigo crew over in Mountain View for HTML5 and Browsers: Community Night which is being held by the Mountain View JavaScript Meetup Group.  The event is from 5p-9:30p at the Microsoft Mountain View Campus.  Our CEO Scott Stanfield will be giving his HTML5 for Skeptics talk at 8:15p.  A full rundown of the agenda is below.

5:00 - 6:00 pm      Registration and Social, food, drink (1 hr)

6:00 - 6:30 pm      Kickoff  (Doris Chen, Alex Hwang, Michael Carter 30 minutes)

6:30 - 7:15 pm      HTML5 and Chrome(Tab Atkins 45 minutes)

7:15 - 8:00  pm     HTML5 and Internet Explorer 9 (Giorgio Sardo 45 minutes)

8:00 - 8:20 pm      Break (15 minutes)

8:15 - 9:00 pm      HTML5 for Skeptics (Scott Stanfield 45 minutes)

9:00 - 9:30 pm       Panel Discussion & Q&A (Kevin Nilson - Moderator, Tab Atkins, Michael Carter, Giorgio Sardo, Scott Stanfield, 30 minutes)

9:30 - 9:40  pm      Give Away and Wrap (Xbox, Google TV, Books, eBook for everybody)

You can sign up for the even on the Mountain View JavaScript Meetup Group’s event page here:  http://www.meetup.com/javascript-9/events/17064537/

Hope to see some of you there!  There will be punch and pie.

Going into the weekend we wanted to recap the activities Vertigo has going on and how you can be sure to connect with us. Here’s the overall rundown.

Attendees

Scott Stanfield – CEO (@seesharp)

Mike Hanley – VP of Services (@greyskull)

Kevin Hanley – CFO and Business Development (@hanley)

Blake Sorrell – Business Development (@blakesorrell)

Kurt Brockett – Business Development (@kurtbrockett)

Tony Sokolowski – Design Director (@tonysoko)

Tim Aidlin – Senior UX Designer (@Systim)

Mike Moser – Director of Engineering (@michaelmoser)

Tim Greenfield – Software Engineer (@timgreenfield)

Dan Slightam – Software Engineer (@dslightam)

Official Happenings

Monday, April 11 - Open Source Fest - MIX11 Convention Area - 6-9pm

Tim Greenfield

Presenting the work done for the Microsoft Media Platform Player Framework around Silverlight 3D. For details please see our post on the event here (link)

Thursday, April 14 - Session – MMP Player Framework: Past, Present, Future – Breakers D – 9a – 10a

Tim Greenfield

Microsoft Media Platform Player Framework, formerly known as Silverlight Media Framework (SMF), is Microsoft's premiere video player framework. The open-source Player Framework now boasts a feature set that includes stereoscopic 3D support, health monitoring, advertising, Windows Phone 7 support and much more. Dive into the newly added features and hear about our plans for the future! (link)

Thursday, April 14 - Session – HTML5 for Skeptics – Breakers D – 12p – 1p

Scott Stanfield

If you build sites with Silverlight and have been watching all the HTML5 hype with bemused skepticism, this session is tailored for you. I'll show you how Vertigo approaches modern web development, and more importantly, how we talk to our customers about it. I'll cover how we balance HTML and Silverlight, the tradeoffs of going HTML over native for mobile apps, and strategies for ideal compatibility across many browsers. We'll analyze the latest browser statistics, review the state of the spec, and discuss how to answer clients who want rich sites, but want it "HTML5 compatible". With all the buzz around this topic, you have a good reason to be skeptical; I want to help you be more informed about where to invest your energy and grow your practice. (link)

If you need to get ahold of anyone please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on twitter or you can email me at kurtATvertigo.com and I’ll try and connect you up. See you on the other side!

In addition to the sessions and official goings on at MIX11, Vertigo will also be taking part in the Open Source Fest put together by John Papa.  The event is Monday evening April 11^th from 6p-9p.  Tim Greenfield will be on hand rep’ing Vertigo.  Be the first to see some of the new features of the Microsoft Media Platform Player Framework (formerly Silverlight Media Framework) as Tim shows off parts of the new features set including the upcoming support for stereoscopic 3D.

Here’s a peak at what you’ll see:

Don’t worry we’re packing a bunch of 3D glasses to make it come to life.  Not only will we be showing off old school Red and Blue anaglyph but we’ll also be rocking some sweet active shutter glasses to show that power in the platform.

Bob Cowherd from the team has a full post available to learn more about what’s behind the technology  (Sneak Preview: 3D Video Support in the Silverlight Media Framework).  Be sure to stop by and see us.

Today we’ll focus on another key goal of MIX11 for us and that’s bringing YOU on board.  We have a few positions to fill so that we can keep the projects humming and we’ll be at MIX11 meeting with potential candidates or grabbing names to follow up with when we return.  Bee Tan is our HR guru who is always on the lookout for top notch talent.  Her email is front and center on the home page and she can be contacted at bee[@pleasedontspamus]vertigo.com.

Right now we 4 openings highlighted which span the team.  Full descriptions can be found at: http://www.vertigo.com/Jobs.aspx

Software Engineer

You’re not quite yet a super senior engineer but maybe you’ve been at the craft for a couple of years and you are looking at joining a team to build up that skillset and maybe one day lead a team of peers.  College folks with some internship or community experience would be a great fit as well.

Creative Developer

Basically you’re like @a7an - a Front End Developer with a passion for exceptional user experiences, and the chops to implement them. At Vertigo you start your engagement further upstream than you’re probably expecting, bringing your implementation strategies and opportunities to help inform great UX designs in the earliest stages of development. You live at the corner of RIA and Line of Business. You speak XAML and HTML/CSS/JS. You embrace the new.

Senior Software Engineer and Consultant

ASP.NET, MVC for ASP.NET, HTML5, JavaScript, JQuery, WCF and SQL Server.  These are your languages and you’ve spoken them fluently for a good 5 years.  We want you to be able to jump in as major contributor on projects and handle any development task that is thrown your way.  Extra credit if you’ve learned the XAML based technologies like WPF, Surface, Silverlight and Windows Phone.

Visual Interface Designer

You dream in pixels and those pixels arrange themselves into great looking RIAs and Line of Business apps. Working within Vertigo’s highly collaborative project teams, you are equal parts brand steward and usability amplifier; strategist and maker of amazing things. We want you to bring it all: typography (!), layout, color and texture, widgets and iconography, animation, and complex data visualization. 

So that’s what we’re after.  If you fit the bill, please shoot us a note to setup some time to meet in person while we’re at MIX. 

It’s an anxious week here at Vertigo as everyone is buttoning up content, presentations and plans for MIX11 which officially kicks off next Tuesday, April 12 with the opening Keynote.  Reality is the start of the event is Monday with the Boot Camps and everyone arriving into town.  Some of us are even heading in on Sunday.  Over the next couple of days we want to highlight some of the places and times you can catch up with Vertigo and find out more about what we’re up to.  For today we wanted to highlight two sessions that Vertigo will be presenting.  They will both be on Thursday so make sure to drink plenty of water on Wednesday Night.

HTML5 for Skeptics by Scott Stanfield

Breakers D on Thu, Apr 14 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

If you build sites with Silverlight and have been watching all the HTML5 hype with bemused skepticism, this session is tailored for you. I'll show you how Vertigo approaches modern web development, and more importantly, how we talk to our customers about it. I'll cover how we balance HTML and Silverlight, the tradeoffs of going HTML over native for mobile apps, and strategies for ideal compatibility across many browsers. We'll analyze the latest browser statistics, review the state of the spec, and discuss how to answer clients who want rich sites, but want it "HTML5 compatible". With all the buzz around this topic, you have a good reason to be skeptical; I want to help you be more informed about where to invest your energy and grow your practice.

Grab the Calendar Item: Download ICS

MMP Player Framework: Past, Present, Future by Tim Greenfield

Breakers D on Thu, Apr 14 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Microsoft Media Platform Player Framework, formerly known as Silverlight Media Framework (SMF), is Microsoft's premiere video player framework. The open-source Player Framework now boasts a feature set that includes stereoscopic 3D support, health monitoring, advertising, Windows Phone 7 support and much more. Dive into the newly added features and hear about our plans for the future!

Grab the Calendar Item:  Download ICS

For two years in a row Vertigo’s work has been nominated for an Emmy.

This year our work with the fabulous NBC team was nominated for no less than 3:

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE

• XXI Olympic Winter Games – NBCOlympics.com

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING

• Sunday Night Football Extra – NBCSports.com

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES – SPORTS PROGRAMMING – SHORT FORMAT

• XXI Olympic Winter Games – NBCOlympics.com

Great job everyone and thanks to NBC Sports.

It’s true we do Android, and more. Our customers demand it. Almost every project we do requires mobile. This means we work with our customers to create a presence on every major platform.

You can find our NBC Sports Talk for Android here.

The NBC Sports Talk app is actually a line extension of NBC Sports Talk that you can already download for iPhone and iPad.

If you need anything Mobile, (WP7, iPhone, Android, or iPad) Vertigo can help.

You may not find a Hallmark card for the occasion, but it's official. We have Hockey Day in America.

NBC will broadcast a NHL double-header event on a national broadcast TV, hosted from McCormick Tribune Ice Rink at Chicago’s Millennium Park. The show will begin with a half an hour of pre-game coverage of the sport, including stories of affection and love for the game across the nation. Stories of groups like the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships in Minnesota, celebrity hockey in sunny Los Angeles, and inner-city hockey in Washington.

NBC will then show three games regionally in the early window, with staggered start times (see below). Later in the day, at 3:30 PM ET, NBC will air the Pittsburgh/Chicago game nationally.

All four games will be broadcast online at NBCSports.com using the Silverlight video experience built by Vertigo.  The simultaneous online broadcast is a first for NBC’s streaming ecosystem, and provides a critical component in the overall broadcast by allowing viewers nationwide to choose which of the three regional games they wish to view, and switch between them at will.

Schedule

Noon                     "Hockey Day in America" coverage begins on NBC
12:35 p.m.           Washington at Buffalo (regional on NBC)
12:40 p.m.           Philadelphia at New York Rangers (regional on NBC)
12:45 p.m.           Detroit at Minnesota (regional on NBC)
3:30 p.m.             Pittsburgh at Chicago (national on NBC)

Links to other news:

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/15/hockey-day-in-america-and-heritage-classic-combine-for-nine-hours-of-coverage-across-nbc-sports-and-versus/

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/20/the-lowdown-on-nhl-and-nbcs-hockey-day-in-america-on-february-20th/

http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/nbc-sports-to-air-nhl-doubleheader-on-hockey-day-in-america/

Amber Case is a Vertigo UX Designer who is a very active, and well respected speaker. She’s a pioneer in the field of Cyborg Anthropology, and was recently invited to give a talk for TED.com about what that means.

Way to go Amber, we’re very proud!

If you want to find out more about Cyborg Anthropology, check out her blog.

What does Vertigo have in common with a Space Monkey and a Good Smelling Man? Making the Advertising Age top 10 campaigns of 2010.

We were proud to work with the the New York based idea powerhouse Droga5 on the JayZ Decoded project.

This was a hip, online, location-based scavenger hunt named Decode Jay-Z with Bing. The interactive game was part of a global, integrated marketing campaign to promote Jay-Z’s memoir, Decoded.

Take a look at the AdAge Top 10 here.

With over 750 radio stations across the U.S. and premium content from well-known personalities, ‘iheartradio’ has more than 10 million downloads on other mobile platforms, and is now available for Windows Phone 7 devices.Vertigo designed and developed this particular mobile version of ‘iheartradio’ specifically for Windows Phone 7 on behalf of Clear Channel Radio. The ‘iheartradio’ mobile application takes advantage of the user experience paradigm, depth of social media integration and built in Zune functionality, which are distinct features of the Windows Phone 7 platform. As a result, the ‘iheartradio’ application retains all of the existing functionality of other mobile platforms, while introducing new features such as deep integration with Facebook, Zune Music and Video Hub, and Zune marketplace – allowing users to purchase and download songs directly to their Windows Phone 7 device.

With ‘iheartradio’, users can select stations organized by city or genre, view lyrics while the song is playing, save the song or station to their favorites, share their favorites via Facebook, view videos or subscribe to premium content. Here’s a good look at the application, or you can download it for free at Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

View our press release here, to learn more or if you want to take a look at demo of the features take a look here.

If you’re one of the many partners, developers or technology executives out there around the world who can’t attend Microsoft PDC 2010 in person, or you are attending one of the many viewing parties at a satellite location – we’ve got your ticket.

Vertigo has once again developed the live HD video player for PDC. Only this year, we’ve got a few surprises and a few firsts in store for you. As you’ve come to expect, you will you be able to view live streams of the keynotes and many of the sessions, or watch them later on demand. But this year, you will also be able to see a split screen, so you can view the PowerPoint, or more importantly, the demo they are previewing, at the same time! And if that’s not enough for you, if you are lucky enough to be walking around with a new Windows Phone 7 device, you can also download the PDC 2010 app that will provide an HD live stream experience right on your phone.

How did we deliver the HD video experience for WP7? The good news is you can find out for yourself by downloading the source code for the Silverlight Media Framework here, which has been enhanced to incorporate WP7, just in time for PDC. And, of course, you can download the WP7 PDC 2010 app from the Windows Phone 7 marketplace:

Here’s what Microsoft thought about our WP7 PDC 2010 app: http://bit.ly/WP7-PDC10

We hope you had a great experience with PDC 2010 this year, regardless of your vantage point!

Vertigo is excited to see NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football coverage take to the field with this year’s online live HD video experience. Vertigo teamed up with NBC Sports to take last year’s Emmy-nominated SNF Extra experience to the next level with lots of exciting features leveraging Microsoft Smooth Streaming in a Silverlight application:

• Live HD video with DVR capabilities and slow motion replays
• Picture-in-picture
• 5 alternate camera angles
• Rich timeline showing key plays, preview window and “Share this play”
• Multiple video modes with Engage, Big Video and Full Screen
• Social features including Twitter Battle, Ask Mike Florio and Andrea Kramer Sideline
• Trivia
• Near real-time highlights & clips

Check out a great SNF product tour video that highlights this year’s new features: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/39078539#39078539

Whether you’re a Notre Dame alum or a die-hard Fighting Irish football fan, NBC Sports is now bringing you every game online this season via their live and on demand HD video player developed by Vertigo. The NBC Sports site is always available and will include full game replays, highlights and featured content, in addition to live broadcasts for the entire 2010 season.

NBC Sports is providing this premium content for free, while incorporating the intuitive DVR controls and full screen mode that sports fans grew accustomed to during live coverage of Wimbledon and the US Open (golf). The HD video player will include an alternate camera angle during live broadcasts and fans can also share their experience through a variety of social media options.

Feeling lucky? Join the Fighting Irish now or catch them live every Saturday right here.

Over the last several months Vertigo has been working with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on some key customer facing applications.

The new system Vertigo is helping to build will bring this 50+ year old paper process to the web.

There’s still a lot of work to do and Vertigo is proud to play an ongoing role in this important project.

Microsoft technology is a vital ingredient in the success of “The District” project. A Case Study was recently published describing how this system will improve the Application and Enforcement process. There’s a lot of cool info here including some interesting history.

This one is worth a read.

The 2010 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference is being held this year in our Nation's Capital from July 11th through July 15th. This is our second proud year of building the DWPC website and supporting the event.

On the website you’ll find tons of information, news, and tools to support you while you're there. You'll also have easy access to scheduling, and networking tools to help you make the most of your day.

If you're not a morning person treat yourself to a front row seat of the Keynote, right from the comfort of you're room. The live Smooth Streaming of the daily Keynote can be found on the DWPC homepage and viewed via Vertigo’s Silverlight Smooth Streaming player. Vertigo is happy to be working closely with our partner iStreamPlanet to bring you this great online experience.

We hope you enjoy the event and get a chance to take in a museum or two.