WinZip Computing and YouSendIt have formed a partnership to provide WinZip Courier, a new file delivery service for business professionals that allows users to send large files, the companies announced April 3.

WinZip Courier comes in two versions, WinZip Courier Lite and WinZip Courier Business Plus. WinZip Courier Lite, a free, ad-supported product, allows users to transfer files of up to 100MB in size with a bandwidth limit of 1GB.

According to a new Evans Data Corp. study, enterprise adoption of service-oriented architecture is expected to double over the next two years.

Evans Data’s recently released Corporate Development Issues Survey showed that nearly one-fourth of the enterprise-level developers surveyed said they already have SOA environments in place, and another 28 percent plan to do so within the next 24 months. Meanwhile, adoption of ESBs (enterprise service buses), which is currently at 15 percent, will more than double during this same time, according to the survey results.

Advanced Micro Devices is rolling out some additions to its Opteron family of dual-core processors that will now run at a clock speed of 3.0GHz.

On April 4, AMD launched the Opteron 2222 SE model for two-way systems and the 8222 SE model for four- and eight-way servers. The two new models will both run at 3.0GHz and offer 2MB of Level 2 cache and the same integrated memory controller and HyperTransport technology (a high-speed chip-to-chip interconnect) as other processors in that series.

This article outlines how to integrate XML form-based processes into Service-Oriented Architectures, using the new IBM Workplace Forms Services Platform, which was released as a component of IBM Workplace Forms Server V2.7.

AT&T is the latest telecom company to incorporate more security into its offerings, with a new network-based service for business customers that sifts through Web content and IM (instant messaging) traffic in search of malware.

The San Antonio-based company has released AT&T Web Security. Specific features include monitoring and reporting of Web traffic at the network level, a Web-based portal for administration and reporting, including customized browser alert capabilities and automated reports; near-real-time scanning of requested Web sites and files; and IM filtering capabilities with storage.

Intel’s vPro technology is about to go mobile. The chip maker is announcing that it will start offering the management and security features found in its vPro platform with the company’s new Centrino Pro microprocessor technology.

In a statement, Intel said the vPro platform will be part of its next-generation Centrino technology, which is now called "Santa Rosa." This new mobile technology will include a combination of the 64-bit Core 2 Duo processor, a new graphics chip, an 800MHz front-side bus and 4MB of L2 cache.

Christopher Lochhead, the former chief marketing officer at Scient and then at Mercury until the company was sold to HP last year, follows up on his post about having bad customer service experiences with some top tier brands. In this guest post he offers some practical advice for companies that would rather delight than alienate customers.

IBM is expanding its mainframe offerings with the latest version of its CICS Transaction Server application, which looks to offer additional Web services and manageability features for service-oriented architecture.

IBM will release the beta of Customer Information Control System Transaction Server for z/OS Version 3.2. The latest version of the application adds some features, as well as new support for SOA, said Jim Rhyne, IBM’s chief architect for enterprise software platforms.

Specifically, the latest version of the application will address issues of connectivity, application reuse and service management for customers of IBM’s System z mainframes.

Cisco Systems made its strongest bid yet to market integrated voice, data and wireless technologies to small businesses–outside the hosted services arena–with the launch of its new Smart Business Communications System.

But it’s an open question whether small businesses with less than 100 users are ready for VOIP (voice over IP), LAN switching, routing, VPN, firewall and wireless LAN connectivity integrated with call management, messaging and auto attendant features.

High-tech companies and others clamoring for additional H-1B visas to hire foreigners would be forced to give priority to American job seekers under a new U.S. Senate proposal.

Just before Congress departed for its spring recess at the end of last week, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill–which appears to be the first of its kind in the Senate–designed to curb abuse of the controversial worker visa system.