This new version includes major usability enhancements, improved compression technology, and for more demanding users, a new Pro feature set with very useful additional functionality. Both WinZip 10.0 Standard and Pro offer additional compression algorithms (PPMd and bzip2), allowing you to make even smaller Zip files, and offer a new Explorer-style view of your Zip file contents, making it easier to navigate complex, multi-folder Zip files. Other enhancements include: the ability to create split (multi-volume) Zip files during compression, automatic update checking, and protection from potentially dangerous files with WinZip’s built-in support of Windows XP SP2’s Attachment Manager.

Protea Tools announced the release of version 1.7 of Protea AntiVirus Tools that utilizes ClamAV open source engine. Designed for Lotus Domino environments, the application allows the administrator to detect, delete or quarantine infected or suspicious mail messages in Domino’s message stream before they reach mission critical applications, penetrate mailboxes and disrupt performance. The program also features on-demand scanning to ensure that Domino’s databases are virus free. Regardless of format, archive or compression type, all infected or suspicious messages will be blocked and sanitized before causing havoc.

Scientigo is claiming that two of its patents cover one of XML’s fundamental principles and is looking to benefit from XML’s broad usage. Scientigo specifically claims that its two patents on a "method for modeling, storing and transferring data in neutral form" cover XML’s basic idea of data storing data in a self-defining package, which enables it to be correctly displayed regardless of platform. Analysts, however, doubt the validity of Scientgo’s patents.

In the midst of an energy crisis, companies are paying more than ever for power in the data center. IT organizations are being hit from both sides with spikes in price and demand. IT organizations are spending more than ever on electricity, and both the price and the demand for power are on the rise. Traditionally, power consumption was just a cost of doing business, the realm of facilities management. But it’s about to become IT’s problem.

IBM unveiled plans to develop open source storage management software with endorsement from some key players, but EMC, HP, HDS and Symantec are missing, leaving users disappointed. IBM’s goal, through the community, is to create a single industry standard that would define how to write all the low-level storage management tasks like discovery and topology of devices, and reporting and monitoring of the infrastructure.

Federal regulators approved SBC Communications’ takeover of AT&T and Verizon Communications’ purchase of MCI Monday in a move consumer activists called anti-competitive. The agency required that SBC and Verizon freeze the wholesale prices they charge competitors to lease high-capacity business lines and said they had to guarantee that they will sell their Internet access as a stand-alone service, so customers aren’t forced to buy local phone service as well. The acquisition by SBC Communications of AT&T is valued at $16 billion; the deal with Verizon Communications and MCI is said to be worth about $8.5 billion.

The International Association of IT Asset Managers announced that the Annual Conference and Exhibition to be held November 9-11 in Orlando, Florida, will feature industry leaders as keynote speakers for each day of the conference. CIO William K. Barnett will be the keynote speaker for the first day of the conference, sharing his experiences inspiring change and acceptance of new technology into a tradition-based organization. Greg Butterfield, CEO of Altiris, will clarify for attendees what CEOs want and need from their IT asset management programs. As keynote speaker for day two of the conference. The day three keynote address features one of the founders of the IT asset management business practice, Larry Shoup. With his years of relevant experience, Larry’s prognostications regarding industry trends and how they will impact IT asset management will give attendees the leading edge for 2006.

US bank Web sites will be adding additional security measures by the end of 2006 to meet new demands from federal regulators for "two-factor" authentication. That essentially means checking something more than just user name and password to verify a customer’s identity. "Phishers" and other Internet fraud artists have become adept at stealing passwords, mainly through "social engineering." Preying on people’s propensity to believe something seemingly authoritative, criminals send authentic-looking emails that send unsuspecting people to an authentic-looking Web site where they give away their data.

Armedia Source Code Management (SCM) software addresses a void in the ECM (enterprise content management) industry. Most enterprise content management systems lack the key functionality necessary to manage source code. Almost all current source code systems are separate systems with their own hardware, software, administrative, training and maintenance cost centers. The Armedia SCM vision was to enable EMC Documentum to be utilized by an organization as both its enterprise content and source code repository.

Maxprog announced a new release of MaxBulk Mailer, new version 4.3, available now in English, German, French, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish with several interesting improvements, new features and bug fixes. MaxBulk Mailer is an email-merge solution for Macintosh and Windows that supports plain text, HTML, and rich text formats including optional plain text alternative and attachments. It includes document and contact management, support for multiple lists and multiple accounts with POP, APOP and ESMTP authentication, SSL, groups, mySQL and postgreSQL imports, unicode UTF-8 support, 32 encoding for virtually any language and hundreds of exclusive features.