IBM announces their 3D collaboration solution for enterprises, universities called Sametime 3D using OpenSim and LotusSametime . I guess they beat LL Nebraska to the market with a commercial inside-the-firewall offering. We also noticed that IBM added a vivox integration to OpenSim so you can run your own voice servers as well.

IBM is also targetting the same education market that LL is after. According to the press release: "With IBM's new virtual meeting service, teachers would be able to tell which students are present and better control the environment."

I suppose Mitch Kapor must be chuckling a little on this as he is both on the Board of LL and the creator of Lotus Notes.

IBM is making a virtual world for design research for Fashion Research Institute (FRI) using a combo of Second Life and OpenSim:

This first-of-a-kind system will allow fashion and consumer packaging designers to access and use 3-D tools with the Second Life client interface. In addition it will also connect to the OpenSim virtual world platform to create packaging and fashion products, provide efficient workflow queues, and allow groups with an interest in the product to collaborate and modify designs.

Those 37 avatars that voted 'Something about inter-grid travel' are right in the end, as today Linden Lab - not Mr. Kapur - announced the first intergrid teleport to be succeeded. This is a memorable day for virtual worlds interoperability.