Las Vegas - Consumer electronics firm New Medium Enterprises (NME) on Wednesday announced that its HD VMD players, which deliver 1080p resolution using standard red-laser technology and multi-layered discs, are now shipping in the U.S. market. Unlike the next-generation Blu-ray and HD DVD formats, which utilize blue lasers, NME's red laser multilayer discs can store up to 30GB of content on s single side disc. The company said the $199 devices will ship with the films "Mother Ghost" and "Cutting Room," adding that it recently signed a deal with SFM Entertainment to offer rare and classic film and TV titles on HD in NME's new format.

New York - CBS Interactive (NYSE: CBS) said on Wednesday that it has partnered with news aggregation site Digg to provide reciprocal links and content during the 2008 election. Digg's election headlines will receive placement on CBSNews.com, while buttons that add a story to Digg's service will be placed alongside CBSNews.com content.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Dallas-based media company Belo under a deal that designates 13 of Belo's television stations as exclusive providers of local news video to Yahoo News in their respective markets. Yahoo said that it plans to host dozens of local news video clips each day, running them within the local news pages of Yahoo News. The companies will share advertising revenue generated from the video clips.

London - British violinist Tasmin Little plans to give away her next album, "The Naked Violin," as a free download, in an attempt to help raise interest in classical music, Reuters reported. "I've done this with no intention of making money, but I feel very strongly that classical music suffers from misperceptions, and someone should be doing something real about it," Little told Reuters. "Just the fact that people can listen to it on a computer means that hopefully they won't feel a need to have an education or be from a particular background or a certain sector of society." The album, which in addition to unadorned violin pieces also contains commentary from Little; it will be available for free download from Monday.

Bryn Mawr, Pa. - ArkivMusic, an online retailer of classical music CDs that counts over 82,000 titles, including many formerly out-of-print albums, announced on Wednesday that it bucked the music industry's overall downward trend, reporting record revenues and 30% year-over-year growth in 2007. By contrast, U.S. album sales were down 15% last year, according to SoundScan. " This was the best year overall for our business, and another successive year of accelerated growth," said ArkivMusic president Eric Feidner. The company added that 10% of sales in the fourth quarter came from its ArkivCD program, which offers on-demand printing of nearly 5,000 out-of-print titles.

Las Vegas - MusicGiants, a provider of digital entertainment content for home theater systems, said on Wednesday that it has signed a deal with Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures, to distribute films through its VideoGiants home theater digital content delivery platform. MusicGiants has partnered with over 600 home theater system dealers, which offer its download media store on home media servers. "This is the first time we have licensed our films for sale and delivery on a hard drive," said Derek Broes, SVP of worldwide business development at Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment.

Los Angeles - Gemstar-TV Guide International (NASD: GMST), a provider of electronic program guides for digital TV services, said on Wednesday that it has signed a multi-year license agreement with Sony USA (NYSE: SNE), which may integrate its program guides into TV products in the U.S. Earlier this week, Gemstar announced a similar license agreement with Polaroid Labs, for the company's line of digital televisions and digital video recorders.

Tokyo - Sales of video game hardware and software rose 10% to an all-time high of $6.3 billion in 2007, propelled by Nintendo's Wii and DS devices, according to data compiled by Japanese game magazine publisher Enterbrain, the Associated Press reported.

Las Vegas - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate charges that broadband and cable TV provider Comcast (NASD: CMCSA) is actively interfering with the accounts of certain subscribers who engage in file-sharing, the Associated Press reports. FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin confirmed the investigation during a speaking appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas - Pandora, a service that lets users create personalized Internet radio stations based on their preferences, plans to close its U.K. service next week in light of high music royalty payments.

London - Confirming a report from yesterday, Apple (NASD: AAPL) on Wednesday announced that it will lower the prices at its U.K. iTunes Store within six months, to standardize pricing with other European iTunes Stores. Prices for iTunes downloads in the U.K. are currently nearly 10% more expensive than downloads in the euro-zone. The move settles an ongoing dispute with the European Union, which took action after a complaint from a U.K. consumer group.

Las Vegas - DeepRockDrive, a provider of interactive concert streaming technology, said on Wednesday that it has raised $3 million in seed funding, from co-founders Jeff Henshaw and Danny Socolof, as well as David Goldberg, former Yahoo Music general manager, and Bill Curbishley, manager of The Who and Robert Plant.

CES 2008 - What happens in Vegas this week won't stay here for too long. If you have been watching or reading any media at all this week, you have seen all the rampant coverage of everything from CES. Being here at the epicenter of the hype has been an interesting experience. Think of it as a cross between a museum exhibit of never before seen artwork, and walking past storefront display windows on 5th Avenue.

Fred Wilson wrote the other day about what observing his kids’ media habits tells him about the future of media — I’ve has a similar impulse to try to draw insights from observing real young people’s media habits. But is this the best way to predict the future of media?

San Francisco - Kadoink, a developer of mobile music marketing widgets, has raised $7 million in its first round of funding, from Sutter Hill Ventures and angel investors, VentureWire reported.

Los Angeles - Comedy purveyors National Lampoon announced on Wednesday the acquisition of CollegeHangover.com for an undisclosed sum.

Toronto - Marketwire, a press release distribution and monitoring service provider, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Miami-based International Media Services (IMS), which offers similar services in Asia and Latin America.

San Jose, Calif. - Gaia Online, an online virtual world targeting teens, has received an undisclosed sum as an investment from Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), VentureBeat reported.