Yahoo Announces Support For Open ID 2.0

Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) will support digital identity framework OpenID 2.0 in beta form Jan. 30.

Yahoo announced Thursday that it would support the technology, which allows users to consolidate their Internet identities. Plaxo and JanRain are working with Yahoo so users don't have to create separate IDs and logins at the Web sites blogs, and profile pages they visit -- as long as the sites support OpenID 2.0.

The OpenID Foundation and community also helped create specifications to improve security and convenience of OpenID.

Users can customize OpenID identifiers on me.yahoo.com or type "www.yahoo.com" or "www.flickr.com" on sites that support the platform. Yahoo said users will be protected by the company's sign-in seal while they surf the Web. Web sites can also add an option to allow users to sign in with their Yahoo ID. E-mail and instant messaging addresses are withheld as users log in, and that creates a barrier to phishing or other attacks, Yahoo said.

"A Yahoo ID is one of the most recognizable and useful accounts to have on the Internet, and with our support of OpenID, it will become even more powerful," Ash Patel, executive VP of platforms and infrastructure at Yahoo, said in a statement.

Scott Kveton, chairman of the board for the OpenID Foundation, said Yahoo's support of "an open Web" validates the OpenID movement and immediately triples the number of people who can use OpenID. Yahoo has 248 million users.

"With Yahoo actively engaged with the OpenID Foundation and its community to promote OpenID, Yahoo's users will be able to more easily access the many sites across the Web that support the standard, and the potential for access to Yahoo's vast international user base will create an even more powerful incentive for additional Web sites to begin accepting OpenID users," he said.

Joseph Smarr, chief platform architect of Plaxo, said the move also supports data portability for various Web services.

Larry Drebes, founder and VP of engineering for JanRain, said that secure, portable, digital identities are keys to advancing Web applications.

More than 120 million URLs and 9,000 sites support Open ID, created by open-source developers.

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Google unveils new iPhone interface for Google Apps

Just in time for MacWorld, Google has announced sizeable improvements to it's mobile applications for Apple's iPhone. Applications that have been updated include Google Reader, Calendar, Gmail, iGoogle, Search, and Picasa.

Google aims to make the mobile experience slicker and usable for iPhone users by better utilizing the iPhone's touch screen. Users can expect to see:

• A quicker Gmail: you no longer have to hit refresh to see when news messages arrive. Also, auto-complete makes typing in address quicker.
• Speedier Calendar: now look at month view and be able to see your entire month's activities at quick glance

• Default tabs can be customized: change and place your tabs on your iGoogle page. Also, single sign on for Google unlocks all google apps with one entry of your username and password
• iGoogle now shows your iGoogle Gadets. Chose from weather, stocks, newsfeeds, clocks, and many more.

If you have an iPhone, all these improvements can be seen by heading over to google.com on your mobile browser.

We're glad to see Google embrace the mobile market in this way. With great features such as these, more people will look at cell phones as a natural extension to their online lives.

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