New York - Google has filed for a patent on digital billboard technology that would turn "kiosk-type billboards" in malls, airports and elsewhere into "a network of electronic display devices," The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. [more..]

El Segundo, Calif. - The hefty $499/$599 price tags for Apple's forthcoming iPhone are primed to come down, as the cost for Apple to manufacture the devices has been estimated at $245.83 and $280.83, respectively, according to market research firm iSuppli. [more..]

Washington - Kevin Martin, the chairman of the FCC, told Reuters that a rule that would currently prohibit XM Satellite Radio from potentially merging with rival Sirius could be changed, Reuters reported. [more..]

Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. video game sales rose 18% in 2006, to $13.5 billion, bolstered by top-selling PC title "World of Warcraft" and the release of new hardware from Sony and Nintendo, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group. [more..]

New York - Time Inc. has announced plans to lay off almost 300 staffers at its roster of magazines and refocus investments in its Web properties, The New York Times reported on Friday. [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - Shares of Apple began to level off on Friday, one day after plummeting 6% after the company released second-quarter estimates that fell below analysts' expectations. [more..]

New York - In his "State of the City" address on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to equip 911 call centers to receive digital images and video from cell phones and computers, as a means of fighting crime. [more..]

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Sunnyvale, Calif. - Internet giant Yahoo said on Friday that it has launched a new personal finance website, featuring tools and information focused on nine major areas such as banking, real estate and retirement. [more..]

London - Mobile entertainment publisher Player X announced that it has raised $9.85 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Nordic Venture Partners and Long Acre Partners with participation from previous investor Arts Alliance. [more..]

Shanghai, China - GameGlance, a provider of in-game advertising services in Asia, announced on Friday that it has received a $2 million investment from a China-based technology consortium. [more..]

New York - Jupitermedia Corporation, a provider of industry analysis, as well as stock images and digital media, announced this week that its Jupiterimages division has acquired the assets of a number of royalty-free music and sound effects services from Mediatone Music. [more..]

Cedar Knolls, N.J. - MediaBay, a distributor of spoken word audio content, announced on Friday that it has filed to deregister its stock and end its reporting obligations with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company said it was eligible to do so under SEC rules because it has fewer than 300 shareholders of record. MediaBay expects the deregistration to become effective in 90 days. [more..]

Barcelona - Private Media Group, a distributor of adult entertainment content, on Friday announced that it projects its mobile business will grow by 130 million handsets to 674 million in the first quarter of 2007. The company said its adult mobile content is expected to go live with twelve new wireless carriers in Japan, Argentina, Canada, Hong Kong, Columbia, Ecuador, Sweden and Finland. "Private is aggressively developing the global distribution of its mobile content," said Tim Clausen, Private's director of mobile operations. "The focus in 2007 will be on developing incremental distribution in the Asia Pacific region and Latin America." [more..]

London - Mobile music distributor SDC said on Friday that it has partnered with mobile advertising developer Amobee Media Systems on technology that will serve contextual and targeted opt-in ads to mobile music services. SDC has integrated Amobee's technology that enables DRM music players to receive ads from Amobee's server. London-based SDC's mobile music services are deployed with 20 wireless carriers. [more..]

New York - Fox News has introduced a subscription service that delivers an audio feed of the cable news channel to cell phones, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The company partnered with Single Touch Interactive on the service, which will initially be available to Cingular subscribers for $2.99 a month, plus per-minute charges. [more..]

Denver, Colo. - Mobile media distributor 9 Squared, a unit of U.K.-based Monstermob, on Friday announced the launch of a celebrity text message service featuring hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg. The service will deliver three text messages weekly, and is available to Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and Alltel subscribers. Other celebrities featured on The In Crowd service include Xzibit, Andy Milonakis and John Salley. 
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Modena, Italy - Computer music software developer IK Multimedia on Friday introduced its AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix Edition, which it calls the first authentic software recreation of the guitar legend's complete guitar amp and effects rig. The software, a cooperative effort with official licensor Authentic Hendrix, will allow guitar players to plug into a computer and recreate the authentic tones of Hendrix, who is credited in the development of modern guitar amplification and effects. [more..]

San Francisco - Greystripe, a distributor of free, ad-supported mobile games, announced on Friday that it has added six new publishers to its partner program. The addition of mobile game titles from publishers Kiloo, Mobility Zone, JavArt, LunaGames, Soul Biz Entertainment and Cheeky will bring Greystripe's library to over 400 games. The San Francisco-based company said that consumers have to date downloaded over 2 million free games through its service. [more..]