In VMware annual conference VMworld in San Francisco, Paul Maritz, a former high-level executive at Microsoft and now chief executive officer of VMware, said virtualization software will displace the operating system.

VMware and Verizon already unveiled a new enterprise-class hybrid cloud solution that is expected to move their applications to the cloud quicker and more seamlessly, without compromising security or performance.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company makes virtualization software, which helps companies manage servers in data centers. Rather than having each piece of hardware chew on a single application, virtualization software makes it possible to run applications across multiple servers, or to run multiple applications on a single server. If you’re confused, just think of the movie “Inception” and think of a server as a dream.

The new solution, which is underpinned by Verizon’s global IP network and VMware’s vSphere virtualization platform, is expected to help remove the serious barriers to cloud computing option, simultaneously enabling the delivery of “IT as a Service.”.

With the new service, in trials now and due for general availability early next year, enterprises that use VMware will be able to shift workloads out to Verizon’s CaaS (Computing as a Service) infrastructure and back again, the companies said. This could help organizations ease their way into cloud computing or take advantage of greater computing resources when necessary.

The new service, which Verizon is simply calling “CaaS enabled by VMware vCloud Datacenter,” was announced Tuesday at VMworld in San Francisco and is based on two VMware products that also were announced Tuesday. VMware’s vCloud Director is a new cloud management tool primarily designed to help administrators move workloads between private and public clouds. Its vShield is software for maintaining security and compliance policies, such as rule-based access controls, as those workloads are moved. Both are available now.

Enterprises will be able to reach the service over Verizon’s private MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) wide-area network service, called Private IP, or over a Verizon public IP data service. The carrier has not yet determined the price of the new CaaS service, but it will have two pricing models. One will be a “pay-as-you-go” plan, in which customers pay only for the computing power they use. The other will involve volume commitments ahead of time, with the opportunity for volume discounts.

TaskRabbit is a new service that allows users to list small jobs or tasks online for runners to complete for a small price. This service serves for people who have errands and people who need some extra income.The service is best used for small Goodwill drop-offs, IKEA furniture assembly, airport rides, grocery runs and tons more other tasks.

The Taskrabbit service is currently available in San Francisco and Boston, but the company is working now in expanding the service to other cities across the United States.

The four easy steps of TaskRabbit:

1. Sign up and post. When you post a task, you’ll describe it, indicate when it needs to be done and set the price you will pay.

2. A runner will contact you if he wants to help. They may accept your price or counter with a price they believe is appropriate.

3. Your runner does your task. If your runner pays for anything while doing your task (like groceries they pick up for you), you can reimburse them through TaskRabbit.

4. Once the task is complete and you have paid, you rate them to indicate your level of satisfaction.

Mobile Service Providers AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are attempting to give credit card companies a run for their money with the planned introduction of new smartphone technology. This technology will allow customers to use their smartphones as payment devices by merely waving their smartphones. Should the technology be successful, credit card companies might have a lot to worry about.

While the technical details are sketchy, the service would let customers make purchases by holding a smartphone in front of an electronic reader in stores. Transactions would be processed by Discover Financial Services (DFS), the fourth-biggest payments network in the U.S. behind Visa, MasterCard, and American Express (AXP). London-based Barclays (BCS) would help manage the accounts, say the people, who requested anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. Representatives for the carriers, Barclays, and Discover declined to comment.

A recent Nilson Report stated that Visa and MasterCard accounted for 82 percent, or $2.45 trillion, of U.S. consumer spending on “general-purpose” cards in 2009. So why wouldn’t mobile carriers want a slice of that action? They are, after all, handling millions of payment transactions anyways. The move may favor not only consumers but retailers, as well. In 2005, merchants filed a federal antitrust lawsuit to approve a cap on “swipe” fees, which exceed $40 billion a year.

According to PRTM consulting firm partner Dan Hays, “Attempts from Visa and MasterCard so far have not been integrated at all with mobile devices. This goes way beyond a sticker on the back of a phone.”

Microsoft will be completing the finishing touches for Internet Explorer 9 Beta, and plans to make the new version of the browser available in September. The announcement was made by Microsoft COO Kevin Turner during his keynote address at the annual Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting on July 29th.

The new version of their popular browser will focus on the HTML 5 standard and feature a new download manager, but further details are still being kept under tight wraps. When asked by the press for details beyond the beta release date, company spokesmen gave the standard, “We do not have any additional information at this time” response. So, for now we will just have to wait and see what trickles out over the next few months.

Microsoft would also name a release schedule for the final build. As it stands now, Internet Explorer 9 isn’t expected to be completed until September 2011–that’s if the company mimics the timeline it used for Internet Explorer 8. One of the more interesting tidbits regarding IE9 is how it lacks support for Windows XP. Even with the operating system being nine years old and having two successors, it still accounts for 68% of all Windows versions in use.

Microsoft also continues to improve the performance, reliability and scores on standard browser tests such as Acid3. At last look with IE9PP3, Microsoft scored 83 out of 100 on the Acid3 test. With the popularity of Chrome and Firefox, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more “borrowed” features in the IE 9 beta version. Microsoft is definitely up against some tough competition with their web browser, and needs to make some strides to gain back some of their share of users that have been lost over the past few years.

Pictures of the LG M17 USB LTE modem have surfaced, and from the pictures, it’s estimated that the device measures in at 6 inches long and 4 inches wide. The M17 has an internal, 2400 mAh rechargeable battery, so technically the device is portable. It also comes with a portable travel charger.

According to test reports, the M17 operates on the 700MHz LTE frequency, which will be used by Verizon. You can also see a SIM card slot on the M17 – a new feature on Verizon devices. Pricing or availability wasn’t mentioned, but with Verizon planning to roll out its LTE network later this year.

It looks like Google has placed further commitment to its online app store business, as it has just officially announced the Google Apps Marketplace. This is targeted at customers who are currently using the Google Apps service, and the apps featured in the Google Apps Marketplace will be able to integrate well it, making things less disjointed within companies. Installed apps, with administrator approval, will be able to interact with calendar, email, documents and contact data, providing a productivity boost. Another benefit of this centralized system is that users won’t have to remember passwords for various accounts, nor worry about the hassle of syncing and sharing data. Currently there are already more than 50 companies selling applications in the Google Apps Marketplace. It looks like we’ve taken one more small step into the world of cloud computing. Video after the jump.

The Google Apps Marketplace is meant to be the go-to place for everything from accounting and finance products to Google Analytics add-ons, all designed, packaged, and sold by third-party companies not associated with Google directly, but wishing to complement the company’s Google Apps suite. Like any proper app store, each product has its own dedicated page in the Marketplace, complete with full product description, vendor information, pricing details, and recent customer reviews.

Google Apps Marketplace replaces the older Google Solutions Marketplace, a similar store for products that complement Google’s own offerings.

Check out Google Apps Marketplace Overview video,

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Apps Marketplace Overview

Google Maps is set to provide a new option for getting around town: biking directions.

And it will be Great news for bikers: the nerds at Google have added bicycling directions to Google Maps. It appears right alongside the other options, walking, car or public transit. It doesn’t work everywhere yet – I tried to find a way from my apartment to the local bike-polo court and Google Maps just told me it couldn’t calculate a route.

The company plans to unveil what it called “the most requested addition to Google Maps” during the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. Google Maps users looking for directions between two points will now have the option of selecting “bicycling” from the current drop-down menu that lets you customize a journey with walking, driving, or public transportation options.

Anyone who has ever tried to bike across San Francisco knows the value of a good bike map in helping to avoid 200-foot hills and city streets that behave more like freeways. Google Maps users have created their own bike maps for cities like New York and Minneapolis, but Google itself hadn’t taken that step until now.

The service is, of course, in beta, and Google is soliciting feedback on the suitability of roads for biking. You can of course still do it the old-fashioned (and somewhat quicker) way: use the walking directions, which ignore road-rules and one-way streets.

As E-Commerce is becoming increasingly popular now, and online sales are projected to rise steadily in the future. Due to such reasons, companies like Hostway and Zeus Technology have conducted an ingenious study that highlights the negatives of e-commerce in the world today.

The survey took samples from over 2,000 U.K. consumers and analyzed their online shopping habits. And It found:

• The average British online shopper spends an average of 2.5 days per year waiting for websites to load.
• In waiting for sites to load, many potential customers abandon their shopping carts, which results in approximately $8.5 billion in lost sales.
• Of the over 5 transactions abandoned per person over the last 12 months, 46% of consumers blame their actions on slow load time.
• 24% of online shoppers abandoned carts due to advertising annoyances.
• 16% abandoned carts due to faulty navigation.
• 13% jumped ship as a result of poor internal linking structures.

We know that Windows Mobile 6.5 is just about to release in a few weeks time on October 6th, we already heared that the next version of Windows Phone which is Windows Phone 7 will launch next year and it features more Social Networks integration.

Microsoft also familiarize the Windows Mobile 7 as a Social Networking Phone OS which allow direct interaction between the phone and social networking so that when you load up the phone it is based at communicating with friends and keeping in contact more.

Microsoft are calling the new features a “ Mobile Social Platform ” allowing website owners to tap in to the API and create applications and features geared at users.

Check out a video about Windows Mobile 7 User Interface,

Click here to view the embedded video.

Windows Mobile 7 UI