Hi all – just a quick travel note from Vertigo conference services. We’ll be across the Bay in SF this week, today through Friday attending Google I/0 2013. Stay tuned for more news out of the conference and if you have any Android/Google questions don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hello [at] vertigo.com. If you’d like to meet up with us at the conference drop me a note – kurt [at] vertigo.com. Thanks!
by Kurt Brockett
Our weekly (ok so we try for weekly!) look at links and stories that circulate around the Vertigo offices.
Xbox Next
Only about one more month to go! As you may have noticed over the past 12 months the Xbox ecosystem has become a major part of Vertigo’s business with the introduction of video apps on the Xbox 360 platform. Just like everyone else we are excited to learn more about how that part of our business can grow with a refresh of the platform. The event is scheduled for May 21 at 10a PT and can be seen on xbox.com
http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/24/4261518/next-xbox-will-be-revealed-on-may-21st
http://majornelson.com/2013/04/24/xboxreveal/
Netflix Long Term View
Netflix recently released their earnings showing that they are a powerhouse in the “Internet TV Network” landscape. With their earnings they released a 12 page .pdf sharing their long term view. There have been a few interpretations and summaries of the report but I would encourage you to give it a read.
Netflix Long Term View (.pdf)
Account Sharing with TV Everywhere
The NYTimes had a great piece on the problem of account sharing for services like HBOGo and MLB.TV.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/streaming-sites-and-the-rise-of-shared-accounts.html
HTML5 Premium Video Extensions
With Silverlight in the rear view mirror for many companies it was big news to hear that Netflix will be pushing into HTML5 video delivery via HTML5 Premium Video Extensions. Netflix was one of the largest properties to still support Silverlight streaming.
http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/04/html5-video-at-netflix.html
CW and Virgin Gaming Xbox Launches
We had some new work go live over the last couple of weeks. Virgin Gaming for Xbox launched and you can read all about it on our previous post: New Work: Virgin Gaming Xbox App – Xbox Live Tournaments.
In addition to Virgin Gaming, CW launched an Xbox experience we helped build for them. A full write up of that app coming soon.
Stats
At NAB there was a bunch of new numbers that came out from various sources. Adobe highlighted mobile video views and their increase in 2012. Mobile video views up 300%.
Vertigo Employee Blogs
Bob Cowherd – Workflow Oriented Apps for Connected TV Devices…with Pizza!
by Kurt Brockett
Vertigo is in Las Vegas this week for the 2013 NAB Show. I will be visiting with many of our media and entertainment clients and checking out the latest in the digital video distribution space. If you want to reach out to us while here in Las Vegas just drop me an email kurt[at]vertigo.com.
by Kurt Brockett
During the week there seems to be a view topics that make their way around the office that influence and affect our business. In addition we sometimes have employees share technical insights on their personal blogs. Let’s see if we can bring some of that together in a weekly series, Vertigo Links.
MediaRoom for Sale?
There is constant movement in the IPTV and OTT video space and the rumor of Microsoft selling off their MediaRoom product is interesting. As Microsoft moves forward with their living room strategy, a move away from MediaRoom would indicate a potential consolidated effort around the Xbox as the single Microsoft outpost in the living room. The reality is that now video and entertainment distribution is everywhere from your pocket all the way up to a large screen in a living room. If you believe Microsoft the idea of devices may eventually go away and we will live in a world of just screens:
Story Links:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/1/4043334/microsoft-future-vision-video-2013
Streaming Time – Stats
A new week means there is a new set of stats about video distribution. This week we turn to Nielsen for the latest stats on gameplay v. streaming time on the various consoles. Overall looks like the consoles are strong media boxes and I wonder how that will affect the marketing and design of the next gen consoles. Will they go after the Roku’s and AppleTV’s or stay in their lane a bit and focus on the gamers. It should be a interesting next few months in this space as we hear more about the PS4 and maybe more about the next gen Xbox.
Story Links:
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/play-vs–stream–the-modern-gaming-console.html
Vertigo Employee Blogs
Bob Cowherd - March Madness Load test for Workplace
by Kurt Brockett
We’re over across the bridge today in SF attending W3Conf (http://www.w3.org/conf/). I’ll be here Thursday and Friday taking in all the goodness of the modern web and listening to some great talks from some of the top professionals in the space. It looks like they have a great streaming set up so follow along at the live stream: http://www.w3.org/conf/live.html or if you happen to be at the conference come say hello!
by Kurt Brockett
During the week there seems to be a view topics that make their way around the office that influence and affect our business. In addition we sometimes have employees share technical insights on their personal blogs. Let’s see if we can bring some of that together in a weekly series, Vertigo Links.
Comcast buys remaining NBC Universal stake from GE
Anytime there is movement with the broadcasters our ears perk up. We do a lot of work in media and keeping track of who owns who is something we try to keep our eye on. Though a very large business it’s amazing what a small world exists on the business end. Knowing the relationships of all the media companies is valuable to Vertigo’s business.
Story Links:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/12/comcast-buys-nbc-universal-16-billion/
Boxen
With our continued push into modern web development there has been a lot of talk around the office about best practices, machine set up, tools, etc. Scott even had a page set up for sharing some of his tips for getting a brand new mac set up (link). Looks like someone has made it even easier with the github project: Boxen
Xbox Media Push
At the D:Dive into Media conference this past week Nancy Tellem and Yusuf Mehdi from the Xbox team shared a peak into the future of Xbox. Vertigo has been very involved in the Xbox entertainment platform over the past 2 years working on both the base platform and many of the consumer experiences currently out in the market. We were excited to hear about continued focused on media and content creation on the platform. Check out some of the coverage from the event below.
Story Links:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/11/3978082/xbox-entertainment-studios-d-dive-nancy-tellem-yusuf-mehdi
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/microsoft-pioneer-future-tv-xbox/
http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/11/microsoft-xbox-360-premium-content-plans-entertainment/
Xbox Rant/Commentary
Originally popping up internally as an “Xbox Rant” there is some great insight in Nat Brown’s post. While the posts above highlight Xbox and the push into media and entertainment Nat calls out the fact that the core experience of gaming on the Xbox is stealthy under attack from the likes of Apple, Google and other mobile/casual game mediums. In his opinion Xbox is not open enough to encourage independent and mass game development to happen on the platform which may eventually lead to cannibalization of their market share.
Story Links:
http://ilikecode.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/stupid-stupid-xbox/
Stats
I find it always fun to track the numbers game. Whether it’s market share, units sold, or OS penetration, at the end of the day numbers drive business. Here are some fresh ones from this week.
Xbox sells 281,000 units in January: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/15/281k-xbox-360-units-sold-in-january/
Xbox has 76m worldwide units, 24m Kinects: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/11/microsoft-xbox-360-at-76m-sold-worldwide-kinect-at-24m/
Vertigo Employee Blogs
Bob Cowherd – This Machine Kills Television
Jason Jarrett – It’s Markdown, No, Powershell. Wait its Markdown formatted Powershell.
Fridays are always good but every so often they get special around the Vertigo office. This week the group was treated to some of the top guacamole recipes the employees had to offer. Unfortunately Craig did not show with his Crazy Guac Tacs! (credit: Portlandia) but there were still plenty of tasty entries. The instructions were:
A challenge awaits all who are deemed worthy to crush up an avocado! Bring in your home made guacamole on Friday for taste testing after the stand up. Each guac will be served in a nondescript Ikea bowl and labeled. All employees are welcome to taste and vote on which one they like the best, but no telling who made each one until the end!
In the end our CEO Scott Stanfield came through with top recipe followed closely by Nina Moro-Nocetti with a New York style guac. Check out some of the pics over on our G+ page.
by Kurt Brockett
Over the past few months Vertigo has been working with SnagFilms on their Windows 8 and Xbox offerings. From their site:
SnagFilms.com offers the broadest collection of great independent movies you can watch right now, on demand, for free, and share with others – films that entertain and inform, engage and inspire, satisfy every taste, encourage discovery and create community.
Their Windows 8 app first debuted in the original launch period for the new platform. You can find the application in the Windows Store by searching for SnagFilms or by following this link: http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/2936cf5f-df18-4b4d-a7e9-3fdf19b080f2
SnagFilms for Windows 8 in the Windows Store
For Xbox simply search for SnagFilms in the Apps category from the Xbox Dashboard or for a limited time grab it directly from the dashboard as it is currently a highlighted on the Apps pivot. TechCrunch recently had a highlight of the application when it initially launched in late December: http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/20/snagfilms-xbox/
SnagFilms for Xbox on the Apps Pivot
Congrats to both the Vertigo and SnagFilms teams on launching on both platforms!
by Kurt Brockett
One of our sharp eyed employees, Dan Normington (@dannormington), sent an email around internally about one of the Windows Store apps Vertigo helped create this past fall for Windows 8 launch.
“The KEXP Artist Discovery application brings your favorite artists to you! Listen to the live KEXP radio broadcast, watch emerging popular bands in exclusive in-studio performances and see great artist photography. KEXP: where the music matters.”
The app is currently being featured both on the home spotlight and the music & video store category. Great job team and here’s hoping to even more downloads in the next few days.
You can download the app from the Windows Store here (App Web Link)
by Kurt Brockett
Going into the end of the year I wanted to ensure we reconciled our list of employee bloggers and ensure our Vertigo team member twitter list is up to date. The hope is we’ll have even more content available in 2013.
Happy Holidays!
Vertigo Twitter List:
http://twitter.com/ogitrev/team-vertigo
Vertigo Employee Blogs:
Dan Normington: http://imaginebettersoftware.blogspot.com/
Jason Jarrett: http://staxmanade.blogspot.com/
Mike Hanley: http://www.michaelhanley.org/blog/
Tim Greenfield: http://programmerpayback.com/
Todd Morrison: http://www.deepelement.com/
Kurt Brockett: http://www.kurtbrockett.com
David Seruyange: http://www.t3rse.com/
Bob Cowherd: http://www.bobcowherd.com/
Matthew Strickland: http://mstrick.com