London - T-Mobile, Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone launch partner in Germany, has sold at least 70,000 of the devices since they went on sale in the country on Nov. 9, The Register reported. T-Mobile, which was briefly selling iPhones that could be unlocked, said the figure represented the number of buyers who had actually activated the iPhone on its network. Last week, Apple's U.K. iPhone network partner O2 reported sales of 190,000 units since Nov. 9.

Las Vegas - Hollywood Licensing, a licensing and new media firm co-run by "America's Funniest Home Videos" executive producer Vin Di Bona, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Dave Networks to launch Reality.tv, a site that will feature user-submitted home videos. The site will offer familiar categories like "Most Embarrassing Moments," "Pet Circus" and "Street Stunts" in an area called the Playground, while another section called My Reality will let both amateurs and new media professionals submit pilot webisodes for online shows, with potential for migration to TV. Dave Networks will power video uploads and social networking on Reality.tv, which will allow users to post videos on other social media sites.

Los Angeles - Television production company Endemol USA ("Deal or No Deal," "Big Brother") announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with online video site Metacafe to launch an online late-night game show called "Buzzed." The series will feature nightclub patrons answering a series of trivia questions as they are leaving the club. Metacafe's 6 million unique monthly users will be able to submit trivia questions and physical challenges for contestants, as well as rate, share and comment on webisodes. The show is currently in pre-production and slated to launch in the spring.

Los Angeles - Habbo, an online virtual world for teens, said on Tuesday that Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment has authorized the creation and distribution of virtual goods on Habbo based on its "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "Beowulf" and "Mean Girls" properties. Habbo's 1.8 million North American users will be able to buy themed apparel to accessorize their avatars, in addition to virtual furniture, accessories and other goods based on the movies.

New York - A website has been set up to inform consumers of how to receive compensation resulting from the settlement of class action lawsuits against Take-Two Interactive (NASD: TTWO), over the "Hot Coffee" explicit sexual content included in the initial release of its "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." Consumers who purchased the original version of the game may exchange their game disc for an edited version, while those with a receipt are eligible to receive up to $35 from the company.

New York - Major record label EMI on Tuesday announced a promotion with The New York Daily News, whereby readers will find a code redeemable for three free song downloads via NYDailyNews.com. Scheduled for inclusion on this upcoming Sunday, and again on Feb. 10, the promotion will allow users to choose from a catalog of over 120,000 songs, including an exclusive track from Ringo Starr's "Liverpool 8" album.

San Francisco - Digital music distributor INgrooves announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with Dolly Parton and her Dolly Records label, and will digitally distribute her "Backwoods Barbie" album. Due out Feb. 26, the new record -- billed as Parton's "first mainstream country album in over 17 years" -- will also receive physical distribution through Artist2Market, Handleman's independent distribution division.

St. Paul, Minn. - Ustream.TV has been tapped to provide the official live video webcast of the 2008 Republican National Convention. In addition to "gavel-to-gavel" coverage of the event, convention and other Republican officials will be scheduled to participate in live video Web chats and other online interviews that will be broadcast via Ustream.TV's platform.

New York - Social networking site Gather.com said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Universal Music Group's Decca Label Group on a nationwide music contest that will award the winner a deal for a Decca-produced record. The "First Tracks: The Search for America's Best Musical Talent" content seeks online submissions from musicians of all genres, with 25 semifinalists to be selected by Gather.com members. In addition to the record deal, the winner's single will also be released on iTunes and Decca's website immediately after the contest.

Houston, Texas - Continental Airlines announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with LiveTV to offer 36 channels of in-flight satellite TV via DirecTV at every seat on its new generation aircraft. The LiveTV service, which will also include Wi-Fi-enabled e-mail and instant messaging, is expected to be available on domestic Continental flights beginning in January 2009.

Los Angeles - Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and major record label Sony BMG (NYSE: SNE) on Tuesday announced a digital licensing agreement for the Southeast Asia and India markets, in some areas creating licensing rules in countries where none previously existed.

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Wall Street Journal Digital Network, to become the exclusive provider of contextual and paid search ads on sites including The Wall Street Journal Online, Barrons.com, MarketWatch.com and AllThingsD.com.

Brussels - Delivering a setback to the global music industry's legal campaign against illegal file-sharing, the European Court of Justice has ruled that EU countries need not disclose the identities of suspected file-swappers in the course of civil lawsuits. The court found in favor of Spanish telco Telefonica, which argued that EU rules only stipulate that file-swapper identities must be disclosed in criminal proceedings.

San Francisco - An analyst has estimated that more than a quarter of U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone last year "unlocked" the device for use on networks other than AT&T's (NYSE: T), Reuters reports.

UK Internet traffic to newspaper websites reached its highest level in over two years last week off the back of a number of big news stories. For the week ending 26 January 2008, 1.48% of all UK Internet visits went to websites in Hitwise’s News and Media – Print category, which includes the websites of national, local and international newspapers, as well as print magazines and trade publications.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Hi5 Networks, an online social network with more than 70 million registered users, has raised $15 million in debt financing from Hercules Technology Growth Capital.

In the networked web era, influentials may not be people with a particularly connected temperament or Rolodex, or people who control and influence monopoly distribution channels (e.g. newspapers), but rather people who influence the network by leveraging the most powerful force on the web — the link. People like bloggers, top Diggers, del.icio.us power users, Facebook users who share lots of links, MySpace users who embed videos, Twitter users who post lots of URLs, or any social network user with links to lots of friends.

London - IAC's (NASD: IACI) Ticketmaster announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Get Me In, a London-based Web marketplace for secondary ticket sales in Europe.

London - ShoZu, a developer of mobile social media services, announced on Tuesday that it has closed on a $12 million third round of funding, led by new investor SEB Venture Capital.