A great thing about blogs is that they let you join the conversation when the conversation is about you. Today there were a bunch of rumors about Passport and InfoCard. Trevin Chow of the Passport team addresses them in his post Official word on Infocard and Passport where he writes

Ever since RSA, rumours have been flying aroung the web and blogosphere about Passport's supposed demise at the hands of Infocard:

 

- IBM Takes on Infocard with 'Higgins'

- Microsoft Developer takes Infocard beyond Windows

- Microsoft moving from Passport to Infocard

 

As much as I hate to disappoint folks like CNet, ZDNet, The Boston Herald, IT Business Edge, etc. but this is absolutely false...Here it is in as easy to understand language as possible, and feel free to quote :)

 

Today, Passport supports different types of credentials.  A more verbose definition of a "credential" from Wikipedia is:

"A credential is a proof of qualification, competence, or clearance that is attached to a person, and often considered an attribute of that person."

Today, Passport supports email address with either passwords or mobile PINs as credential types.  Infocard will simply be another credential that will be supported by Passport. In other words, Infocard will not replace Passport, but rather Infocard will supplement Passport.  So in a nutshell:

 

1. Infocard will not be replacing Passport, contrary to the popular belief, rumour and conjecture.

2. Inforcard will be another accepted credential type for the Passport network.  You will be able to link an Infocard to your Passport and use it to access Microsoft, MSN and Windows Live services.

 

This is not to say that Infocard is not a valuable and worthwhile technology.  I'm extremely excited about the possbility of the proliferation of infocards in the future and putting the control of sharing user information in the hands of the user.  The point being made here is that Passport will not be wholesale replaced by Infocard.

The Infocard hype keeps getting louder and louder each day. One of these days,  I may have to get off my butt and actually find out what exactly it is.  :)