New York - CBS Corporation announced on Wednesday that it has acquired U.K.-based social music network Last.fm, for $280 million in cash. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Three weeks after reaching a preliminary deal, MySpace parent Fox Interactive Media (FIM) officially announced on Wednesday that it will acquire photo sharing site Photobucket for an undisclosed sum. [more..]

San Jose, Calif. - Online auction giant eBay announced on Wednesday that it has acquired StumbleUpon, a service that lets users discover and share websites and online videos, in a deal valued at $75 million. [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple on Wednesday announced the launch of its iTunes Store DRM-free music offering, iTunes Plus, which will sell songs in high-quality 256kpbs AAC format for $1.29. [more..]

New York - Sony/ATV Music Publishing announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Viacom's music publishing arm, Famous Music, for about $370 million. [more..]

Los Angeles - Variety reports that 20th Century Fox has acquired the motion picture rights to game publisher Electronic Arts' "The Sims," and plans to produce a live-action movie headed by John Davis ("Eragon," "When A Stranger Calls"). [more..]

Los Angeles - Action movie director John Woo has signed on to direct and produce a movie based on a new video game property created by veteran developer Warren Spector ("Deus Ex," "Thief: Deadly Shadows"), according to The Hollywood Reporter. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Motion Picture Laboratories (MovieLabs), a nonprofit organization funded by six major motion picture studios with a mission to develop new technologies, announced that it will begin offering grants of up to $100,000 to developers of technologies that address specific challenges in the industry. [more..]

Hong Kong - CTS Media, a Hong Kong-based provider of in-stream video advertising technology and services, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $8 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Disney's Steamboat Ventures. [more..]

San Mateo, Calif. - Gemini Mobile, a developer of wireless software infrastructure that includes a 3D community platform, announced that it has raised $5 million in a new round of financing, led by Japan's Access Co. [more..]

Menlo Park, Calif. - LimeLife, a publisher of mobile consumer software focused exclusively on content for women, has landed a $3.9 million investment from Core Capital Partners. [more..]

*A correction has been made to this story.
Fredericton, Canada - Radian6 Technologies, a provider of social media monitoring and viral behavior measurement services for marketers and advertisers, announced that it has raised $4 million in a new round of funding, led by BCE Capital. [more..]

New York - News Corporation and NBC Universal said on Wednesday that their as-yet-unnamed digital distribution joint venture has signed a raft of deals with new content partners, including Fuel TV, Oxygen, Speed, Sundance Channel and TV Guide. The video destination and distribution network, set to launch this summer, will offer full-length shows, clips and movies through distribution partners including AOL, MSN, MySpace, Yahoo, Comcast and CNET. [more..]

Reston, Va. - Demonstrating that pro basketball's worldwide audience is on the rise, audience measurement firm comScore said on Wednesday that 54% of traffic to NBA.com in April came from overseas. While North America represented 46% of the site's visitors, the Asia Pacific region accounted for 36.6%, followed by Europe (11.7%), Latin America (3.5%) and the Middle East-Africa (2.1%). China accounted for the most international visitors overall (2.8 million). [more..]

Alviso, Calif. - TiVo has partnered with Australian media firm Seven Media Group to distribute its digital video recorder service in the country beginning next year. Seven Media Group will lead the creation of the digital platform, which will be available for use by other broadcasters and broadband content owners; the company's own broadcasts reach 98% of Australians. [more..]

London - U.K. social networking site Bebo has partnered with the creators of YouTube star "Lonelygirl15," to launch a British spin-off story called "Kate Modern," Reuters reported. The video diary series, which will initially launch on Bebo before expanding to YouTube and elsewhere, will include a Bebo profile for the actress, and feature some form of advertising. The original "Lonelygirl15" has garnered more than 50 million hits. [more..]

Los Angeles - ABC will air a six-week newsmagazine produced by ABC News that will be based on user-generated video, Variety reported. "i-Caught" will feature breaking news, celebrity news, investigations, political and other stories built around videos submitted by users. The I-caught.com website is slated to open for submissions on June 12. [more..]

Dulles, Va. - AOL said on Wednesday that it has launched a new website featuring news, buying guides and advice about consumer electronics. The company said that Switched.com, delivered in blog format, also will feature celebrity interviews, gossip and editors' picks. "We realized there were plenty of sites targeting hard-core technology users, but none existed that cut through industry jargon to serve the average consumer," said Lewis D’Vorkin, the senior vice president of AOL News & Sports. AOL said that it is looking to generate revenue from the site by letting advertisers sponsor seasonal and special editorial features. [more..]

New York - PayPlay.FM on Wednesday announced the launch of its website that offers 1.3 million tracks for sale in the unprotected MP3 format, at 88 cents per song. The company will offer a la carte 192kpbs song downloads, and plans to launch a companion site that will sell music videos, short films and TV shows later in 2007. PayPlay.FM previously offered 128kbps, WMA-encoded tracks for 77 cents per song. [more..]

San Francisco - Independent online music distributor IODA announced on Wednesday that it has signed distribution pacts with Australia-based Destra Entertainment, and Hong Kong-based iMagine. San Francisco-based IODA will distribute songs and music videos from Destra's more than 37 labels, including Central Station, MRA and Rajon. Under the other deal, iMagine will distribute the IODA catalog in Hong Kong, China and other markets in the region. [more..]

Recife, Brazil - Brazil-based D'Accord Music Software on Wednesday launched its iChords application, which it says can recognize and present chords heard on any CD, MP3 or WMA file. Three years in the making, the software purports to eliminate the need to consult tablatures or sheet music when figuring out the chords being played in any given song, and also presents fingering, notation or intervals. [more..]

New York - Knitting Factory Entertainment, an operator of live music venues in Los Angeles and New York, said on Wednesday that it has partnered with ShopText to offer text-message-based ticketing services. The deal will enable consumers to purchase concert tickets via their mobile phones. [more..]

Boston - Mobile advertising provider Third Screen Media, a unit of AOL's Advertising.com, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with mobile content provider Hovr. Boston-based Third Screen will sell and serve ads in Hovr's free mobile social game applications. [more..]