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.

Seoul, Korea - Korean electronics makers LG and Samsung announced on Wednesday that they have partnered to develop a new mobile TV delivery standard for the North American market, as the standards body for the region prepares to adopt a technology in early 2009.

Atlanta - According to published reports on Wednesday, South Korea-based SK Telecom and Virgin Mobile USA are in strategic negotiations regarding Helio, SK's wireless services joint venture with EarthLink, as well as other business assets in the U.S.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace has won a $234 million anti-spam judgment against "Spam King" Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines, who were found guilty after not showing up in court to defend against charges they violated the 2003 Can-Spam Act, the Associated Press reported.

San Jose, Calif. - Qtrax, the developer of a free, ad-supported music file-sharing service, has secured a deal with the last of the four major music publishers, Warner Music Group's (NYSE: WMG) Warner/Chappell, to license its repertoire for inclusion on the Qtrax service, Wired.com reports.

Midlothian, Va. - Completing a deal first announced last month, video game publisher SouthPeak Interactive said on Wednesday that it has gone public by acquiring a majority stake in Global Services Partners Acquisition Corp. (GSPAC), a shell company that trades on the OTC Bulletin Board.

New York - Global management consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Origin Digital, a provider of video capture, transformation and delivery services to content owners.

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.