Mountain View, Calif. - Continuing to take advantage of the rapid growth of online advertising, Google on Thursday reported a 46% jump in third quarter profits. [more..]

San Francisco - A group of media and technology firms has worked out a set of guidelines for protecting copyrights on the Internet, that include using antipiracy technologies to remove infringing content, and block copyrighted materials from being uploaded before they are publicly accessible, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. [more..]

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America on Thursday cut $100 off the price of its 80GB PlayStation 3 in the U.S., which will now sell for $499, and also said it will begin selling the new 40GB model for $399, beginning Nov. 2. [more..]

London - The BBC on Thursday announced details of its "Delivering Creative Future" plan, which will include 1,800 layoffs, an integration of its TV, radio and Internet news operations, and 10% less original programming. [more..]

Washington - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Thursday announced that it has sent another round of over 400 letters to students and network users at 19 universities, offering settlement deals to suspected music file-swappers it intends to sue for copyright infringement. [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - As anticipated, Apple has announced that Orange, France's largest wireless carrier, will be the exclusive partner for the launch of the iPhone there on Nov. 29. [more..]

New York - Viacom's Comedy Central cable network launched a dedicated website for its "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" program on Thursday, which features almost every episode the program has aired in its nine-year history. [more..]

London - Screen Digest, a London-based market research firm, announced on Thursday that it will acquire Adams Market Research, a fellow market research firm covering the U.S. home entertainment market. [more..]

Seattle - Melodeo, a provider of on-demand audio and video programming for the Web and mobile platforms, has raised $7.9 million in its third round of funding, led by Ignition Partners and Voyager Capital. [more..]

Mill Valley, Calif. - SocialMedia Networks, a provider of tools for developers building applications for online social networks, announced on Thursday that it has raised $3.5 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Charles River Ventures. [more..]

Based on the previous year's pattern, and the uptick in Facebook traffic over the last week, I think the argument that the dip over the last two months is seasonal is certainly plausible, blogs Hitwise's Bill Tancer.
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What if someone could create an "uber business card" which acted like a folder to store all your other business cards?  Rohit Bhargava has some thoughts on how this could be done as a personal marketing tool.
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I wanted to interrupt my Dancing with the Stars posts to discuss what I think has become the hallmark of media coverage: Vulnerability. [more..]

New York - France-based video-sharing site Dailymotion announced on Thursday that it will use Ina's video fingerprinting technology to protect copyrighted video content on its service. [more..]

London - U.K. mobile network operator O2 announced that it has signed a deal with Warner Music for the initial exclusive rights to Led Zeppelin ringtones in the country, Billboard reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - MySpace said on Thursday that its first Presidential Dialogue with John Edwards has been streamed some 350,000 times since is online premiere, adding that the on-air broadcast on MTV won its time period for cable viewers aged 18-24. [more..]

Washington - XM Satellite Radio, the provider of satellite radio services now attempting to merge with rival Sirius, said on Thursday that its radios will for the first time become a standard feature on all General Motors 2008 Buick, Hummer and Saab vehicles. [more..]

Los Angeles - Gemstar-TV Guide International, a provider of electronic program guides for digital TV services, said on Thursday that it has signed three new patent license agreements in Europe, with German consumer electronics firms Loewe Opta, Metz-Werke and Kathrein-Werke. [more..]

Los Angeles - In the first reported cancellation of a new fall TV show, The CW has pulled "Online Nation," a show that featured user-generated video clips, TVWeek.com reported. [more..]

Burbank, Calif. - Disney said on Thursday that it will host digital 3D screenings of a concert from its "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" in movie theaters in the U.S. and Canada in February, expanding to several international markets in the spring of 2008. [more..]

Fremont, Calif. - Mobile video delivery firm Nexage said on Thursday that it will power a new mobile video service from DivX, a developer of video compression technology and operator of a video-sharing service. [more..]

Fremont, Calif. - WaveGroup, the collective of musicians and studio professionals who produced the recordings for Activision/Red Octane's "Guitar Hero" video games, announced on Thursday that it will offer "The Guitar Hero Recordings" as digital downloads. [more..]