MySpace has joined the likes of Yahoo!, AOL, Flickr and WordPress in using OpenID, a shared identity service designed to allow users to use the same log in details for many websites, eliminating the need for a new screen name for each site.

OpenID works using URLs instead of usernames such as http://xxx.openid.com and there are two ways a website or company can participate in the OpenID program. MySpace will be joining the initiative as a provider, which means for the time being it will only be issuing OpenIDs to it’s users. Providers only make their user accounts OpenID compatible where as relying parties are websites that allow users to sign into their sites with IDs from issuing parties.

The adoption of OpenID is designed to make MySpace a more attractive option for users. Number 1 contender with MySpace, Facebook, has yet to announce any sort of OpenID deal and so, some would see this as giving MySpace a little bit more of a lead.

However, until MySpace decides to take that next step (and VP of Technology, Jim Benedetto told Reuters the site is considering becoming a relying party) then we don’t really see this move being good for anyone but MySpace.

“All this will tie together to make it more useful for MySpace users to have MySpace accounts even when they’re not on MySpace," Benedetto said in a phone interview with Reuters.

We think this pretty much sums up the decision in one sentence. MySpace garners more users by issuing the IDs but doesn’t recognise other OpenID log ins “yet”. Ultimately we think this could be great for MySpace and it’s users but only if the website decides to go 100 percent OpenID.

Samsung today announced its 7-series of plasma TVs, which will be become the new flagship plasma product line for the manufacturer when the devices go on sale in August.

Samsung said the TVs are the first TV cases designed with dual-injection molding technology which infuses color to the bezel rather than using spray paint. Samsung described the design as a "hint of red color blended into a piano black bezel."

Specifications include 1080p resolution, a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 1300 cd/m2 brightness,
day/night calibration modes, InfoLink RSS support, four HDMI 1.3 connects and one USB 2.0 port and playback compatibility with MP3, JPEG, XviD and MPEG4 files.

Prices start at $2800 for the 50" model. The 58" version is priced at $4500 and the 63" TV at $5500.

Hewlett-Packard said that it will deliver more than 110,000 desktops and 31,000 notebooks to the U.S. Air Force (USAF) under the Air Force DLS (desktop, laptop and services) contract. According to the company, HP will provide Compaq dc5850 Small Form Factor and Microtower PCs, Compaq 8510p notebook PCs and Compaq 8710w mobile workstations will be distributed to Air Force bases around the world.

HP was selected as the "Best Value Vendor" for the desktop and laptop categories by the USAF’s Information Technology Commodity Council, which includes representatives from the USAF’s major commands. As part of this August 2007 award, HP delivered more than 150,000 systems to the USAF. In October 2004, the USAF awarded HP a five-year DLS blanket purchase agreement under the provisions of the Air Force PC strategy, which allows HP to bid on the USAF "Quarterly Enterprise Buy" for computer systems.

Mountain View (CA) - Microsoft painted a rosy picture of increasing Windows Vista demand during its most recent quarter conference call, but the reality may look different, if the results of a survey of systems management appliance is somewhat correct: Apparently, six out of ten IT Managers have no plans to replace an older Windows operating system with Vista and almost all say that the recently released Service Pack 1 did not change their opinion and almost half of respondents said that they may be considering other operating systems as alternatives to Windows Vista. Is Microsoft gambling the huge enterprise client market away?

A few days ago, we learned that Microsoft has sold 180 million Vista retail boxes, OEM licenses and enterprise licenses so far. Sure, it is a stunning number by any measure and it is still high enough to make any other company out there jealous. But the reported sales numbers raised questions of possibly declining growth, which especially appear to originate from enterprise license sales.

It is no secret that Windows Vista has had a less than great start with the enterprise and that it has a tough time convincing IT managers of its advantages over Windows XP. New survey results released by Kace, a systems management appliance company, now indicates that the perception of Windows Vista among IT managers is pretty much set and that Microsoft’s sales force will have to work harder to get Vista into enterprise environments.

60% of 1162 U.S. IT administrators surveyed said that they have "no plans" of deploying Vista. This number is 7% higher than the result of Kace’s November 2007 survey. The heavily promoted Service Pack 1 has not changed their opinion, with 92% of respondents stating that the update has not changed their plans for Vista deployment. 83% said that they are concerned about the compatibility of required business software with Vista, 65% said it is challenging to obtain the expertise needed to manage multiple operating systems and 41% of the respondents reported it is challenging to secure multiple operating systems.

The dissatisfaction with Windows Vista is apparently enough to make IT administrators think twice about the deployment of a future Windows operating system. Kace found that 42% of IT administrator respondents said they would consider deployment of alternative operating systems, such as Mac OS and Linux, in order to avoid a migration to Vista. The survey results showed the Mac operating system as the most likely alternative operating system to be deployed, the company said.

"The second version of the Vista Adoption Trends survey clearly demonstrates Microsoft is still fighting an uphill battle with Vista and the release of Vista Service Pack 1 did little to change corporate opinion about the operating system," said Diane Hagglund of King Research, which conducted the survey for Kace. "These same IT departments are evaluating alternative methods to stave off Vista deployment with many moving to the Mac operating system instead. This brings up a whole new set of challenges related to managing heterogeneous environments and compounds the importance of systems management devices that deliver a single interface for diverse operating systems."

Sony is reportedly making the jump into the low-cost notebook market. According to the Chinese Economic Daily News, Foxconn will be manufacturing the Sony model, whose introduction date and price remained unclear.

Despite mini-margins, low-cost notebooks - small-for-factor notebooks with price tags around or below $500 - are believed to offer the greatest growth opportunity in the notebook market these days. Expect Christmas electronics ads to be flooded with these devices.

Top phone company AT&T posted on Wednesday a higher quarterly profit as stronger-than-expected growth in wireless subscribers compensated for shrinking traditional landlines. The results pushed AT&T shares up 2.5%, though analysts said they remained worried about the fall in home phone lines and also pointed to weaker-than-expected growth in high-speed Internet subscribers in the second quarter. AT&T said that in the first 12 days following of its launch launch, sales of the iPhone 3G were nearly double levels achieved in AT&T’s 2007 iPhone launch.

Read the complete story here.

Yahoo’s mixed results may not tip scales. With the slowing economy taking a toll on the online advertising business, Yahoo said Tuesday that its net income dropped by nearly 19% in the second quarter from a year ago as revenue grew at a sluggish 6% rate. Analysts said the results would do little to improve Yahoo’s negotiating position with Microsoft, which has tried to buy all or part of the company.

Read the complete story here.

Los Angeles (CA) - Do you own multiple GPS systems, depending upon whether you need road maps or topographic details at any given moment? Garmin’s got a new GPS unit you’ll want to check out if you want to cut that GPS clutter down - the Garmin nüvi 500.

The Garmin nüvi 500, priced at around $500, is reportedly a rugged GPS unit which is equally comfortable on the trail or in your car. It functions as a multi-mode device, flipping between outdoors or driving modes by touching a "usage mode indicator" located at the top of the 3.5" display’s home screen. This marks perhaps the most unique feature of this product.

The nüvi 500 comes preloaded, according to Garmin, with detailed street and topographic mapping for the lower 48 U.S. states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. You can navigate standard ways, or make use of the GPS unit’s Garmin Connect Photos feature to choose from geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio photo sharing community to provide photo navigation by land or water.

In what may be an added bonus, the 500 also "comes preloaded with the Historic Route 66 map guide developed by MAD MAPS. This route spans from Chicago to Los Angeles, while highlighting specific points of interest associated with Route 66 along the way." I suppose if I have time to kill I might do that someday.

Los Angeles (CA) - What does it take to prove yours is the most secure portable USB drive on the market at the moment? A little bit of extra certification perhaps - that is what MXI Security seems to be thinking with its 16 GB Stealth MXP drive.

MXI Security says this specific drive just received "FIPS 140-2 Level 2. validation." This means the drive meets specific U.S. Government computer security standards for cryptography modules, including meeting requirements for "physical-tamper-evidence and role-based authentication."

The 16 GB Stealth MXP offers for security AES 256-bit CBC hardware encryption and authentication (biometric, password or both). It can work with up to five users and is designed to "protect an entire Operating Systems, or virtual workspaces, applications and confidential information for each user, dividing the memory evenly among the users provisioned for each device or allotting different-sized partitions according to individual needs."

Chicago (IL) - From Pakistani engineering, through Danish organization, with Luxembourg VC cash, and on to world domination. Vopium wants to be the first native VoIP app on your iPhone.

If you were waiting for iPhone 2.0 firmware in anticipation of an Apple-branded VoIP application based on iChat, you would be disappointed. Presently, iPhone users are limited to Web-based VoIP services such as Jajah, IM+ for Skype or Fringe. However, all of them run inside the iPhone’s Safari browser and are non-native. In fact, among 900 applications currently available on the App Store, there is not a single native VoIP application.

Up and coming Danish mobile VoIP company, Vopium, European venture backed and founded by Pakistani engineering talent, hopes to change that. The current versions of its application are available for a wide array of handsets and services, although somewhat limited in their international scope. However, the company recently raised over $5 million to help it expand globally. Vopium will be a native iPhone application distributed to users through the App Store. Vopium has been certified as an Apple Enterprise Developer. The company has released a beta version of Vopium that runs inside the iPhone’s Safari browser. However, the company assured us that the native version, currently in the works, will be "fully integrated with the iPhone."

Vopium existing version offers cheap international VoIP calls to most countries in the world. The service works by re-routing your call as a local call to a Vopium gateway which, in turn, delivers the call anywhere in the world through premium global traffic carriers. All that users are required to do is download free client software for their mobile phone brand and purchase minutes and text messages using their credit card. Cheap international VoIP calls are also possible from a landline, simply by dialing a local Vopium access number.

According to the company, Vopium will enable users to "save 50 to 90% on international calls and SMS messages." The company is giving away 30 minutes and 100 text messages for free to users who wish to try the software and register at Vopium’s home page. Vopium currently works in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Spain but the company is testing the service in beta in France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, the US and Canada.