Los Angeles - Starbucks will test a new digital audio format, developed by veteran producer T-Bone Burnett and a team of engineers, on a forthcoming John Mellencamp album due for release via the Hear Music imprint, Digital Music News reported. The album, "Life, Death, Love and Freedom" is due for release on July 15, and will come both on CD and in the new "CODE" format -- which attempts to "closely mirror the fidelity of original, master recordings" -- on an included DVD that allows for transfers to computers and portable devices.

Waterloo, Ontario - Research in Motion's (NASD: RIMM) new BlackBerry Bold smartphone will feature a new BlackBerry Media Sync application that lets users sync their iTunes (NASD: AAPL) digital music libraries on the device. Slated to hit stores this summer, the BlackBerry Bold will also ship with Roxio music, video and photo management software.

Los Angeles - CrushedPlanet.com, a pre-bubble Web video site from the creators of HBO's "Taxicab Confessions" that focused on adult-oriented content, has re-launched as a paid video site with 15 channels, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The site initially launched in 1999, but shuttered two years later due to insufficient broadband penetration. It will feature videos related to sex, relationships and other topics, charging subscription fees of $9.95/month and $99.95/year, or between $0.99 and $3.99 for a la carte videos.

San Francisco - Music-focused social network imeem on Wednesday released support for Google's (NASD: GOOG) OpenSocial on the imeem Media Platform, the site's third-party developer platform. With the addition, developers will now be able to port their existing social media applications created through OpenSocial to imeem, which counts over 24 million users.

London - Nimbuzz on Tuesday introduced its free mobile VoIP and instant messaging service, which enables free calls, instant messaging and group chat on over 500 supported handsets across services including Skype, Yahoo, AIM, Google Talk, MSN and 23 social networks including Facebook and MySpace. Available now as a beta in the U.K., the service works on Nokia Symbian Series 60 devices connected to a 3G or Wi-Fi network, and also offers a hybrid VoIP for GPRS/EDGE, allowing users to make international mobile calls at local dial-in cost.

New York - Mobile entertainment publisher Dada Entertainment, a joint venture between Dada USA and major label Sony BMG, on Tuesday announced the addition of DRM-free full-song downloads from Sony BMG artists to its offering. Subscribers to the Dada pay $10 a month for 15 tokens, which are redeemable for ringtones, wallpapers, games and full-song downloads. The full-song offering requires users to first download tracks to a PC and then transfer them to their phones.

San Francisco - Social music service imeem announced on Tuesday that it is now streaming actress and major label artist (Warner/Rhino/Atco) Scarlett Johansson's debut album of Tom Waits covers in its entirety, a week before its official release. San Francisco-based imeem also recently overtook Yahoo to become the top streaming music site, according to data from analytics firm Compete.

New York - RightsFLow, a provider of outsourced licensing and royalty services, has announced a mechanical licensing agreement with The Harry Fox Agency for full-length, permanent digital downloads. "Our clients look to us to provide a turnkey outsourced solution for publishing licensing and royalty administration," said RightsFlow president and CEO Patrick Sullivan. "Working with HFA is a key step that will allow us to license and account more swiftly and efficiently, allow our clients to get more product available for sale, and create a greater value for all."

Tel Aviv, Israel - MeeMix, a personalized Web radio service, on Tuesday announced its expansion into personalized music video channels. The company combined its taste prediction technology with YouTube's extensive music video catalog, so that users of its radio service can simply switch to "video mode," without having to create new video channels from scratch.

San Francisco - Greystripe, a distributor of free, ad-supported mobile games, on Tuesday announced a deal to offer free mobile games from Sega. Three Sega titles will initially be offered on GameJump.com and through Greystripe partners, to include "Sonic Jump," "Afterburner II" and "Golden Axe."

Los Angeles - The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Monday a new deal with ESPN (NYSE: DIS) for the cable TV broadcast and digital rights to the US Open grand slam tennis tournament, ending its 25-year deal with USA Network. The six-year pact, which begins in 2009 and was worth nearly $140, according to the Wall Street Journal, will see ESPN offer 200 hours of US Open coverage. ESPN will also offer live feeds on the ESPN360 broadband service, comprehensive coverage on ESPN.com, and various content on ESPN Mobile.

London - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) has launched Messenger TV, a new video feature for its instant messenger application currently available in 20 European countries. Users can send one another up to four-minute-long video clips from providers including Reuters, Channel 4 and EMI and chat while watching the videos.

Los Angeles - Ghostlight Records will be the first to offer an original cast recording from a Broadway show exclusively on iTunes when it adds the "Passing Strange" album to the store on May 27, Variety reports. The CD version of the album is not expected in stores until July.

Chicago - Emmis Interactive, the online unit of the radio broadcaster, on Monday announced a licensing agreement with Apple (NASD: AAPL) to market its custom Storefront technology to other radio stations. The technology lets radio stations build a storefront where listeners can purchase songs they hear on-air using their own existing iTunes Store accounts.

New York - Radio station owner Radio One's Interactive One unit on Monday announced a multi-year online advertising deal with urban site AllHipHop.com, creating an online ad network focused on African-Americans that will count combined traffic of more than 4 million monthly unique visitors and over 500 million page views. Interactive One will become the exclusive sales agent for AllHipHop.com, in addition to selling ads for Radio One's station websites, and other properties including BlackPlanet.com, Giantmag.com, MiGente.com, Newsone.com and TVOne.TV.

New York - CBS's (NYSE: CBS) Last.fm social music discovery service announced on Monday an official media partnership with the Lollapalooza music festival, and will power Lolla Radio, the festival's official Web radio service that lets users listen to songs from artists performing at the festival.

San Francisco - Independent animation network Aniboom said on Monday that it has partnered with casual games publisher I-play to develop animated serial content for mobile, online and television based on I-play's most popular games. The first series in development is based on "Turbo Subs," a restaurant franchise-building game that counts millions of downloads.

Emeryville, Calif. - Orb Networks, a developer of media place-shifting technology, announced that it has enabled live TV streaming to Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone and iPod touch. The video stream must originate from a PC with a TV tuner card. The company said it created a special application called OrbLive to get around the iPhone's extreme limitations on supported video formats.

Los Angeles - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week expanded the ordinance that allows for the county to shutter a property that becomes a "public nuisance," such as in gang or drug-related instances, to include properties used to illegally manufacture and sell recordings and audiovisual works. "This ordinance is an important milestone in our efforts to curb piracy in Los Angeles," said Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). "In its approval of this ordinance, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have officially recognized that piracy isn't just an industry problem, but one that has a significant impact on the local economy as well."

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple's (NASD: AAPL) Canadian unit has settled a class action lawsuit with Canadian iPod owners over claims to the device's battery life, and will pay consumers there who purchased an iPod before June 24, 2005 a $45 credit, Canada's Gazette reported. The settlement is similar to one Apple made with U.S. iPod owners in 2005. Some 80,000 Canadian should be eligible for the $45 credit, which is redeemable through Apple's online store.