DMW Daily, September 7, 2007

 Top Stories
Los Angeles - Apple is interested in cutting the cost of most TV shows offered on its iTunes Store from $1.99 to 99 cents, Variety reported, citing three people familiar with the proposal. [more..]
San Diego - DivX, a developer of video compression and video distribution technologies, announced on Friday that it has filed a preemptive lawsuit against Universal Music Group, asking a judge to declare that the label's claims of copyright infringement against its Stage6 video-sharing site are without merit. [more..]
Dulles, Va. - Adding to the capabilities of its expanding advertising network, AOL said that it has completed its acquisition of New York-based Tacoda, a developer of technology that lets advertisers target consumers based on their online behavior. [more..]
New York - Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive announced on Friday that it has sold most of the assets of its Joytech video game accessories unit to Mad Catz Interactive, a large manufacturer of video game accessories, for $3.7 million. [more..]
New York - Viacom's MTV Networks announced on Friday that it is developing two dozen new targeted websites for its various TV and other properties, as part of its "360-degree development process across all platforms," and will count more than 300 by the end of the year. [more..]
Mountain View, Calif. - Google this week added a new feature to its Google Book Search tool that allows users to create and search their own personal book inventories. [more..]
Purchase, N.Y. - Specialty electronics retailer Tweeter Newco, which recently filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Shultze Asset Management, on Thursday announced that it has received $80 million in new financing. [more..]
Bloomington, Ind. - AuthorHouse, a provider of Web-based self-publishing tools for authors owned by private equity firm Bertram Capital Management, announced this week and it has acquired Lincoln, Nebr.-based iUniverse, another provider of self-publishing services. [more..]
Boca Raton, Fla. - Multiply, an online social network, has raised $16.6 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by VantagePoint Venture Partners. [more..]
New York - MyPublisher, a provider of photo books and design software for digital photographers, had raised an $8.9 million investment led by Mousse Partners. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
Things happened so fast that you might've missed it: Apple had its worst week in years, making a series of head-scratching moves that require further analysis. [more..]
Is it possible to get Skype on the iPod Touch and call for free? If so, do you need an iPhone or a wireless provider, really, asks Jay Baage.
[more..]
Rohit Bhargava blogs about the importance for the marketing and PR community to have a common understanding of what the most important criteria are to measure and really understand the impact factor of a particular blog. [more..]
 Briefly Noted
New York - Viacom's MTV has developed a new reality TV dating show that features Tila Tequila, a bisexual singer who also happens to claim the largest number of friends on News Corp.'s MySpace social network (over 2 million), Variety reported. [more..]
Columbia, Md. - iBiquity Digital, developer of HD Radio technology that lets broadcasters transmit a digital signal alongside their analog signals, this week announced a new feature for HD Radio receivers, iTunes Tagging, that lets listeners tag songs they hear on FM radio for later purchase from the iTunes Store. [more..]
Wayne, Pa. - The founder of cable TV sports network ESPN, Bill Rasmussen, on Friday announced the launch of CollegeFanz.com, a site that will feature social networking, traditional sports content, group voice chat and user-generated online radio shows. [more..]
Chicago - News Corp.'s MySpace plans to add a popular travel application originally developed for rival social network Facebook to its own site. [more..]
Los Angeles - Acer, a Taiwan-based PC and consumer electronics firm, this week announced that it has joined the North American HD DVD Promotional Group, and will develop products that support the HD DVD format. [more..]
Los Angeles - Warner Music Group/Nonesuch artists Wilco have set up a form on their website so fans can vote for which songs they'd like to hear the band perform live at upcoming shows. [more..]