Roundup: Twitter’s inventor readies next big thing, Verizon supports texting bans, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Twitter co-founder to launch iphone payment service — The project, code-named Squirrel, will allow your iPhone to take credit card payments (though it won’t be the first service to do this), TechCrunch’s MG Siegler reports.

Verizon will support bans on text messaging while driving — One such law recently took effect in California.

European Commission fine against Intel expected Wednesday — IDG calls the case, which has been under investigation since 2000, “one of the most significant antitrust decisions in [the European Commission’s] history.”

Apple breaks into top 5 PC makers in UK — Overall PC sales slid by 5.1 percent, while Mac sales grew 6.6 percent.

Google uses Microsoft PowerPoint to say it’s not a monopoly — Here’s the presentation.

Sun shareholders move to block Oracle deal — A group of shareholders has made court filings calling Oracle’s acquisition offer “unfair and inadequate.”

Wolfram Alpha gets a mixed review — ReadWriteWeb says the so-called Google-killer will be useful for techies and academics, but probably not for mainstream folks.

Amazon creates its own URL shortener — That will make it easier to link to Amazon product pages on services like Twitter.

Open web advocate Chris Messina talks about the current state of OpenID — The video is embedded below, and you can find more context here.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4543100&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Video Interview With Chris Messina on OpenID at Next09 (Hamburg) from Plugg Conference on Vimeo.

Demand Media pumps out web content using algorithms — The company, run by former MySpace Chairman Richard Rosenblatt, has 2,000 freelancers who produce 100,000 pieces of niche content each month.