London - O2, Apple's iPhone launch partner in the U.K., was forced to stop taking pre-orders for the device Monday when a crush of customers who received text messages of the offer from the company crashed the site, The Register reported. O2 had offered to have the iPhone delivered via courier on Friday to customers placing a pre-order. "The response was so great that the online store completely sold out of iPhone 3Gs within just a few hours," the company said. "Though O2 had invested several million pounds to increase the order capacity of the site, at times the site still couldn't process the sheer weight of demand."

Washington - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to introduce a set of public service announcements for the upcoming digital TV transition, which for the first time will feature the commissioners themselves, TVWeek.com reports. To this point, PSAs on the transition have been produced by networks and cable and satellite companies, and some had criticized the FCC for not taking a more direct role. "The chairman and commissioners truly understand the issues related to the DTV transition, and certainly have the expertise to help promote important factors related to the digital switch," an FCC spokesman told TVWeek.com.

Boston - The Massachusetts State Legislature has proposed a bill that would expand the up to 20% tax credit it provides film productions to video game developers who set up shop in the state, The Boston Globe reported. Already present in the Boston area are developers including Turbine, Harmonix and Blue Fang Games. Georgia and Wisconsin have enacted similar tax breaks that include credits for video game developers.

Timonium, Md. - Online retail giant Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) on Tuesday launched a new payment option developed by Bill Me Later, which allows customers to pay for their purchases online without using a credit card. The move comes eight months after Amazon first announced plans to make an equity investment in the company as part of a larger partnership. The Maryland company's service allows shoppers to provide their birth date and last four digits of their social security number, and receive a bill in the mail.

Santa Clara, Calif. - Intel (NASD: INTC) announced on Tuesday that it has formed a strategic alliance with film studio DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA), aimed at "revolutionizing 3D filmmaking technology," the companies said. Under the agreement, Intel will provide DreamWorks Animation with advanced chips, as well as software engineers to optimize DreamWorks' applications for these advanced processors, which Intel said will allow DreamWorks to "render higher quality images more quickly and to modify them with greater ease." The first film to be produced under the partnership will be "Monsters vs. Aliens," set for release next March.

New York - LimeWire, a provider of peer-to-peer file-sharing software that runs on the Gnutella network, announced on Tuesday the launch of Live at Lime, a live recording series featuring indie artists that will be sold exclusively through its LimeWire Store. Recorded at Headgear Studios in Brooklyn, the series is currently offering EPs from The Morning Benders, Sloan, Tigers and Monkeys, and Lucy Wainwright Roche.

New York - Mobile entertainment publisher Thumbplay announced that it has partnered with Universal Music Group to offer a suite of exclusive Jay-Z ringtones and other mobile content. The ringtones include ten singles not previously made available, including "Can I Get A," "Encore" and "IZZO (H.O.V.A.)."

London - Video Games Live, the live symphonic concert touring series that features video game music, announced that EMI Classics has released a compilation CD and digital album featuring music from the concerts. Compiled by tour co-creators Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, who also conducts, the album features tracks from games such as "Halo," "Tetris," "Castlevania" and "Myst" played by the Slovak National Orchestra, The Crouch End Festival Chorus and Martin "The Video Game Pianist" Leung.

New York - Linden Lab, creators of the "Second Life" virtual world, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced on Tuesday a successful test of virtual world interoperability, during which avatars were "teleported" between the Second Life Preview Grid and an OpenSim virtual world server. An open standard for interoperability would allow users to cross freely from one world to another in a seamless transfer, just as they can go from one website to another on the Internet today, the companies said.

London - Game publisher Square Enix on Tuesday released its "Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes" game for the iPod at the iTunes Store. The roleplaying game incorporates musical elements, and is available in English or Japanese for the iPod nano with video, iPod classic and fifth-generation iPod for $4.99.

New York - Despite woes in the buyout market, private equity fundraising continued to hold its ground during the first half of this year, dropping only slightly from 2007's record levels, according to a new report by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst.

Malmo, Sweden - A recent survey found that nearly eight in ten consumers don't put much stock in the opinions of professional music reviews, preferring instead to seek recommendations from online music stores or social networking applications (40%) or friends, family and other shoppers (41%).

McLean, Va. - Gannett (NYSE: GCI), the media company that publishes USA Today, said on Tuesday that it has acquired Chicago-based marketing and database services firm ShopLocal though separate deals with owners Tribune (NYSE: TXA) and McClatchy (NYSE: MNI).

Washington - The Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) has named Marcus Brauchli, the former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal (NYSE: NWS), as its new executive editor.

Cupertino, Calif. - Mobixell Networks, a provider of mobile multimedia and advertising services, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $6 million in new funding from existing investors Apax, Intel Capital and smac partners.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Topspin Media, a provider of music marketing tools and services, has raised an undisclosed sum in its second round of funding from the Foundry Group.

Washington - The Future of Music Coalition, a non-profit established to represent the rights of artists on digital music issues, has recruited artists including Wilco, Bright Eyes, DJ Spooky and Aimee Mann to contribute to "Rock the Net," a compilation album whose proceeds will go to support its lobbying efforts on Network Neutrality. "As musicians and entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of treating all websites equally -- from the busiest online music store to the smallest blog," reads a note on the Web page for the album, which is also currently offering a free stream. A CD version will also become available for purchase on July 29.