NetVibes has announced that they will be releasing a open source, cross-platform widget api. This means that developers will be able to create widgets using the API and the API will automatically recognize which platform (e.g. Google, Netvibes, Yahoo) the widget is being opened in and run the appropriate code. This will significantly simplify developers work - allowing them to focus on new products rather than rewriting the same application multiple times.  Its somewhat like Microsoft's .NET CLR (common language runtime).

    NetVibes also intends to allow authentication through OpenID sometime this year. It appears that OpenID is quickly on its way to becoming an open standard. Expect to see even separate open id methods beginning to support OpenID.