Sunnyvale, Calif. - Facing increased pressure from investors over his company's lackluster financial performance in recent quarters, Yahoo on Monday said that Terry Semel has stepped down as its CEO, to be replaced by company co-founder Jerry Yang. [more..]

Dallas - In a blow to Toshiba's next-generation HD DVD disc format, video rental giant Blockbuster announced on Monday that it will expand its inventory of titles in Sony's rival Blu-ray Disc format to 1,700 stores next month. [more..]

New York - BurnLounge, a service that lets fans create their own music stores that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week branded a pyramid scheme and is seeking to shut down, announced on Monday that CEO Alex Arnold has resigned. [more..]

Los Angeles - Sony plans to close its Connect digital music and video store, resulting in the loss of about 20 jobs at the company in Los Angeles, PaidContent.org reported. [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple said on Monday that its forthcoming iPhone will deliver up to 8 hours of talk time -- up from an earlier estimate of 5 hours -- or 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback, or 24 hours of audio playback. [more..]

Seattle - According to a survey conducted in April, 64% of U.S. mobile phone users were aware of Apple's iPhone, and 9% -- which includes about 19 million people -- have expressed "strong interest" in purchasing one. [more..]

New York - Microsoft has paid video game publisher Take-Two Interactive $50 million for the exclusive rights to offer downloadable episodes for its "Grand Theft Auto IV" game over the Xbox Live Marketplace service for the Xbox 360. [more..]

Stamford, Conn. - Worldwide revenue from mobile games is set to reach $4.3 billion this year, up 50% from 2006, and is projected to reach $9.6 billion in 2011, according to a report from market research group Gartner. [more..]

New York - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced the launch of a year-long online pilot program that will test the value of allowing the public to participate in the patent examination process. [more..]

Corvallis, Ore. - MyStrands, a developer of social recommendation technology, announced on Monday that it has raised $25 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Grupo Zeta CEO Antonio Asensio. [more..]

Shanghai, China - Microsoft will pay $12.3 million for a small stake in Chinese TV maker Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Reuters reported. [more..]

Irvine, Calif. - Online game publisher K2 Network announced on Monday that it has closed a $16 million second round of venture capital, led by Intel Capital. [more..]

San Jose, Calif. - Broadband network chipmaker BroadLogic announced that it has raised $17 million in a new round of financing, led by Comcast Interactive Capital. [more..]

DMW sat down with David Gosen, CEO of iPlay and now the head of Oberon’s worldwide mobile games business, and talked about the impact of bundled offers such as Internet service, telephone, mobile, and TV and where he sees the most business opportunities in the future. [more..]

Rohit Bhargava blogs about how everyone loves a good drum solo and how a marketer sometimes need to think like a drummer to be successful. [more..]

Many newspaper executives, most infamously Tribune acquirer Sam Zell, have made an enemy out of syndicators such as Google. Scott Karp, however, argues that these syndicators are more friend than foe for online publishers. [more..]

Guy Kawasaki blogs about how the not-for-profit FROG was created using a similar model to what he used when launching Truemors. [more..]

San Bruno, Calif. - Google's YouTube quietly launched a new version of its service for mobile phones last week, in addition to an online video-editing tool on its site. [more..]

Chicago - Microsoft announced on Monday an update and name change for its Internet TV (IPTV) software, which will now be known as Mediaroom and include new features like in-home personal music and photo sharing, multiple picture-in-picture capabilities, support for digital terrestrial television, and new advanced applications tools for developers. [more..]

Paris - Google has entered talks with French public broadcaster France Televisions about including its programming on a European version of the YouTube video-sharing service, Variety reported. [more..]

Toronto, Canada - The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), an entity created in 1999 to collect and distribute tariffs on sales of blank media sold in Canada, announced on Monday that it has distributed over $100 million to more than 88,000 music rights holders over the past four years. [more..]

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft has launched what it says is a redesigned and reengineered MSN Mobile service, which provides access to e-mail, news, sports, entertainment, movie listings, maps, search and other services all on one page. [more..]

Washington - XM Satellite Radio, the provider of satellite radio services in the midst of a merger with rival Sirius, on Monday unveiled two new satellite radios. [more..]

San Francisco - Fuzz, a San Francisco-based digital music start-up that combines an online record label, artist promotion platform and online fan community, on Monday announced the launch of Fuzz.com. [more..]

San Francisco - Delivery Agent, a provider of custom e-commerce stores for TV shows, movies, sports and publishing, on Monday announced a deal with Universal Music Group's Interscope Geffen A&M Records, to create an online store for the band The Pussycat Dolls. [more..]

Needham, Mass. - TechTarget, a Massachusetts-based media company focusing on the IT industry, has acquired two IT product review websites, TechnologyGuide.com and Ajaxian.com. [more..]