As you may have heard by now, Internet Explorer 9 is currently in development and is expected to be released sometime in 2011. Microsoft has added several new features with IE9, the most exciting of which are support of CSS3 and HTML5 technologies.

Though Internet Explorer is still the most widely used browser, it has steadily declined since Safari, Google Chrome, and Firefox have been quicker to support these newer technologies.

Now with IE9, Microsoft is playing catch up. For a casual user, IE9 will likely run faster, but most of the upgrades are behind the scenes. For developers, this opens up the world of CSS3 selectors, like border-radius and text-shadow, as ways to deliver great looking content without using "heavy" imagery.

Though any release of a more modern browser is generally good news, most web developers hope that with the development of IE9 we can begin to sunset the support of IE6. Here’s to hoping that the added features in IE9 will be compelling enough to the IE6 user to make them want to upgrade. Wait, didn’t we say that when IE7 and IE8 came out?

Until then, all we can do is hope to see IE6 users drop to the point where we won’t have to continue the full scale support of 4 Explorer versions, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome. At least this is another step further down the road for Microsoft.

FYI, you can download a trial version here: http://en.softonic.com/s/internet-explorer-9

Now you can surf the Branson Tracks site from your mobile phone! We know that Branson Tracks visitors are busy and on the go, so we created a mobile-friendly version of their website that can be viewed on any mobile device.

Branson Tracks fans can quickly and easily view attractions for each location, check seasonal hours, get directions and even buy tickets to The Track! To check it out, just visit www.bransontracks.com on your mobile device.

With the level of success the KEEN Footwear ecommerce site has had in the US, we knew it was only a matter of time before we’d take it across the pond. After brushing up on our German and French, studying European tax rates and practicing our international business relations, we are excited to announce that you can now shop KEEN online in Europe!

Our challenge was to provide the same unique and creative shopping experience as the US site, but tailored to the specific needs of the European market. The result? An awesomely integrated shopping site that allows consumers to select their country, shop in English, German or French and purchase products directly from the KEEN Europe headquarters.

This project has been another illustration of the incredible partnership we’ve had with the team at KEEN, now including KEEN Europe.

To celebrate the launch, simultaneous toasts took place in Oregon, Texas and The Netherlands. (There’s nothing like a glass of champagne at 4am, west coast time!)

Spend your buck, Pound or Euro on anything KEEN at www.keenfootwear.com.

KEEN Europe Team

Wright Strategies Portland Team

Too much spam in your inbox? We have a new solution to beef up your spam protection within the server. Advanced spam protection is now available for $120/year per domain name. This fee will cover every email address on your domain, adding a new layer of protection to keep annoying spam out of your inbox. 

We’ve implemented this feature for our Wright Strategies email addresses, and the difference is night and day. Contact us at 512.480.8566 or info@wrightstrategies.com if you have questions or want to set up advanced spam protection today.

We’re excited to announce the launch of the Infinity Impressions website for full-service personalized apparel!

Our goal was to give Infinity Impressions an online identity that highlights their array of products and personalized printing options. On the Infinity Impressions website, customers can view an extensive online catalog of merchandise, browsing by category, color and gender. They can also submit generic or product-specific information for detailed print quotes.

On the sleek administrative site, Infinity Impressions manages their product offerings and customer quotes. They can also select new samples to showcase on the homepage.

Check out the new site here: www.infinityimpressions.com.

The challenge of using fonts on the web is not a new one (we discussed it most recently after SXSWi). For years designers and developers have been using the same 15 fonts on the web, only able to implement non-web fonts with workarounds like Flash text, javascript and text in images. Now, that's beginning to change.

In May, Google announced the launch of the Google Fonts API, which allows developers to use a select number of web fonts in their pages. All the fonts in the Google Font Directory have open source licenses so they can be used on any website, from a private blog to a large commercial site.

You can check out the full list of fonts that are part of the Google Web Font API here: http://code.google.com/webfonts.

The Portland office loves a practical joke or two... While Jeremy and Aaron were out of the office for their annual partner meeting, we took the liberty of redecorating their offices. Check out the story below (thanks to my wife!) to see how it all turned out.

There once were five boys who worked hard all day.

Two went out and three stayed to play.

(Aaron's office)

(Jeremy's Office)

Two more left leaving one all by himself.

(Justin's Desk)

So he shifted the blame onto somebody else.

(Scott's Desk)  

We’re always looking for new ways to extend the reach of the web world, and we’re very excited about the potential concerning 2d printed codes. These codes allow mobile users (with the right scanning application) to point their phone at a code and immediately visit a URL, call a number or send a text. 

Who will win the top spot in terms of acceptance across the US and international sites? QR codes already have a head start in Japan and Google has added QR codes to their map world allowing people to scan a code and identify it as a favorite place.

Both have strengths and weaknesses. Here are just a few of our findings so far:

• QR codes support a higher variety of code types (email address, sms, geo coordinates)
• MS Tags can be printed significantly smaller
• QR codes are an open standard, so you can make a variety of different kinds of tags
• MS Tags have analytics built in since they all go through a single data system
• QR codes can be read by a variety of readers already deployed across many platforms, while MS Tags can be read by a single reader (developed by MS but available on major phone platforms)
• The detail in a QR code can cause issues with phones that have weaker cameras, while the simplicity of the MS Tag allows it to be read under tougher conditions
• Both can be integrated into applications for on-the-fly code generation and rendering

It’s hard to tell which one may end up being the industry standard, even though QR codes have a nice head start. We will keep watching and playing to see how this can enhance the overall experience for you and your customers!

It comes as no surprise that as Facebook continues to evolve it is creating more ways to bring our friends and acquaintances together, even outside the confines of the network. For many users, this is a dream come true, allowing our sphere of influence to impact all aspects of our online experience, from hearing songs our friends like on Pandora to seeing our friends’ reviews on Yelp. 

The new Facebook plugins allow websites to incorporate familiar Facebook activities such as “Like” and “Recommend” into their sites. As of last week, over 100,000 websites have incorporated the new plugins resulting, for many, in increased site traffic.

While the plugins allow other sites to offer the same personalization that we love experiencing on Facebook, it is not achieved without some controversy and ardent debate. Facebook continues to mitigate significant privacy concerns, including a backlash of users coordinating mass “Quit Facebook” days.

We each have a different comfort level regarding our privacy and the Web. Be aware of your personal privacy settings and set them accordingly to match your comfort level. Click here for answers to questions surrounding the new social plugins.

Online reviews are commonplace, from company sites to social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Unmonitored reviews from customers may have been a fear of companies in the past, but today they must be embraced. A recent eMarketer interview with Denise Zimmerman of NetPlus Marketing, Inc. highlights tactics for addressing any less-than-stellar reviews that might surface about your company.

"Reviews were positive for the business. If you had a good product and you were a good company, the positive reviews far outweighed the negative ones. You also got valuable feedback about potential issues or problems with a product that you might not have gotten before. But the challenge for retailers was, what do you then do about it? And a lot of this is relevant to the larger social media picture." - Zimmerman

She says you have three options:

1. Ignore it.
2. Respond.
3. Take it down.

Sure, one and three may seem a bit "anti-social," but they are clear options, and there are times when they are very appropriate. Companies should determine whether or not the review stemmed from an isolated event, or was potentially submitted by a "trouble maker." Based on this analysis, they can proceed with the best response.

Read the full interview here.