– Microsoft to
Support OpenID; details are sketchy
at this point, but Microsoft looks likely to utilize OpenID (the open, decentralized
identity system) in some of its products. Brady Forrest has more info at
O’Reilly Radar. If this turns out to be true, it’ll be a huge step forward and will put
pressure on Yahoo and Google. Frankly, I think Microsoft can achieve a rare moment of
‘higher ground’ with this – for once, Google will look like the laggard in supporting
open standards.
– Google opens Gmail to
all; Google has removed the invite-only part of Gmail, after nearly 3 years (it
launched April 2004). I note that the ‘beta’ tag is still there though! Also it could
probably do with a boost in data allowance, as I for one am now over 50% of my allocated
2814 MB.
– Amazon
Unbox on TiVo; Amazon.com and TiVo partner to beam movies and TV shows directly to
their customers’ living rooms. We’re really seeing some action in the Internet TV space
this year, with Apple, Microsoft, Wal-Mart and startups like Joost all jostling for early
market leadership. Key to TiVo choosing Amazon over other partnership contender Netflix
was Amazon’s “large customer network and a large catalog of distribution rights”.
– Google to cable operators:
Let’s collaborate; related to the Amazon/TiVo news, Google head of TV technology
Vincent Dureau is reaching out to cable operators because “the Web infrastructure, and
even Google’s (infrastructure), doesn’t scale. It’s not going to offer the quality of
service that consumers expect”. This is mostly because of online video, which is expected
to put a huge strain on Internet infrastructure this year and going forward.
