London - Apple (NASD: AAPL) is said to be developing a version of its iPhone with a slide-out keyboard to please corporate customers used to the BlackBerry device, The Register reported, citing senior executives at some mobile operators who had seen actual prototypes. The sources told The Register that any iPhone model with a slide-out keyboard would definitely not hit the market this year.

London - CBS-owned (NYSE: CBS) social music discovery service Last.fm announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Radiohead to offer the band's "In Rainbows" album for free streaming from its site, supported by advertising. The rights were licensed through the "one stop" digital licensing platform that Radiohead and publisher Warner/Chappell Music created at the end of last year. The band previously made "In Rainbows" available as a pay-what-you-want download; Last.fm said it has already been streamed 22,000 times in its first 12 hours of availability.

New York - Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL on Wednesday announced the launch of BigDownload.com, a new joint project between AOL Games and Weblogs, Inc. that offers free PC game downloads, game reviews and industry news. Weblogs will provide coverage of the PC gaming market though its Joystiq blog.

London - Unsatisfied with the sound quality of MP3 and other current digital audio formats, veteran rocker Neil Young has been talking with record companies on "licensing an alternative digital platform that he had been working on -- something, he claimed, of far higher quality that could provide an alternative to the download world and perhaps even a new business model for music," the Financial Times reported.

London - Italian police have shut down popular music file-sharing forum Downrevolution.net and arrested four alleged operators of the site, which counted 30,000 registered users, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a record label trade group.

Tempe, Ariz. - Content delivery network Limelight Networks (NASD: LLWN) said on Wednesday that a federal court has denied rival Akamai Technologies' (NASD: AKAM) request for a permanent injunction against the company, which a jury previously ruled has infringed Akamai's patents.

Washington - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that one of the operators of BurnLounge, a digital music distribution service the agency had determined was actually a pyramid scheme, has settled charges and agreed to give up $20,000 in ill-gotten gains.

Washington - The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a formal probe of Yahoo's (NASD: YHOO) proposed online advertising partnership with Google (NASD: GOOG), and will seek documents and information from third party companies with a vested interest in the sector, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Google and Yahoo had agreed to voluntarily delay the deal -- which would see Google serve ads against Yahoo search results -- while the Justice Dept. made an informal inquiry, "but a formal investigation signals that the department may have found some cause for concern," The Post reported.

Shanghai, China - Chinese online game developer and operator Giant Interactive Group (NYSE: GA) announced on Wednesday that it has paid $51 million for a 25% stake in Five One, an online social network in China.

New York - Digital advertising and entertainment network New Motion, Inc. (NASD: NWMO), which does business as Atrinsic, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired the assets of Ringtone.com, a mobile entertainment portal, for $6.25 million in cash.

Grapevine, Texas - GameStop, the world's largest video game retail store chain, announced on Wednesday that it will acquired The Gamesman, New Zealand's largest independent game retail chain.

I'm the first to admit that the whole Guitar Hero thing took me off guard. Play music on a plastic toy guitar - come on! But then I went to Guitar Hero night at my local waterhole, Hyperion Tavern, in trendy Silver Lake (Thursdays for those of you that care, see picture to the right). It was so much fun that I was converted on the spot. Now in its third incarnation, Activision's (NASD: ATVI) "Guitar Hero" game franchise is still the most popular entry in the music-based gaming genre that includes the newer hit "Rock Band" by Harmonix. Not only has the games sold millions of copies and is now available on other platforms such as mobile phones, the games have also become an invaluable marketing tools for bands (rock band Motley Crue was the first group to release a new single, "Saints of Los Angeles," for sale through the video game "Rock Band.") as well as increased interest in real guitar playing. And the trend of interactive music games that Guitar Hero started is just in its infancy.

Dallas - Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) announced on Wednesday that it has decided to withdraw its $1 billion-plus bid to acquire electronics and media retailer Circuit City (NYSE: CC), citing market conditions. "Based on market conditions and the completion of our initial due diligence process, we have determined that it is not in the best interest of Blockbuster's shareholders to proceed with an acquisition of Circuit City," said Blockbuster chairman and CEO Jim Keyes. "We continue to believe in the strategic merits of a consumer retail proposition that would bring media content and electronic devices together under one brand.

London - Nimbuzz, a provider of VoIP and IM services for mobile devices and social networks, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $15 million second round of funding, led by Naspers/MIH with participation from previous backer Mangrove Capital Partners.

Palo Alto, Calif. - PLYmedia, the developer of an interactive Web video platform that enables the addition of advertisements, subtitles, pop-up bubbles and other layered content to existing video, has landed $6 million to $6.5 million in new financing, TechCrunch reported, citing a source with knowledge of the deal.