San Francisco - Yahoo will lay off "hundreds" from its staff of 14,000 employees as part of a plan to increase profitability and narrow its scope of offerings, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing people close to the company. [more..]

Seattle - Getty Images, a producer and distributor of celebrity and other photography, on Tuesday confirmed that the company has retained Goldman Sachs and is exploring strategic alternatives. [more..]

San Francisco - News Corp.'s MySpace online social network has quietly fixed a glitch on its website that allowed users to access the photos on some profiles that users had deemed "private," Wired.com reports. [more..]

New York - Time Warner's HBO cable TV network plans to offer its subscribers free access to some of its movies and original programming online, beginning with a pilot set to launch this week in Wisconsin, The New York Times reported. [more..]

San Francisco - Slide, the provider of an online photo slideshow service, has raised $50 million in a new financing round that values the company at more than $500 million, BusinessWeek reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - International online social network Badoo, which claims 12.7 million users, on Tuesday announced the launch of a U.S. version of its service. TechCrunch reports that the company this week also raised $30 million in funding, from Russian investor Finam. [more..]

San Francisco - Quantcast, a provider of open Internet ratings for websites, widgets and videos, has raised $20 million in its second round of funding, led by Founders Fund and Polaris Venture Partners. [more..]

Portland, Ore. - More than seven out of ten TV viewers polled in a recent survey said they use their remote controls for simple interactive tasks -- like navigating electronic program guides or scheduling recordings -- and a majority of these also showed interest in increased interactivity for reality shows, sports and even commercials. [more..]

La Jolla, Calif. - Covario, a provider of interactive marketing analytics software, announced on Tuesday that it has raised a $16 million second round of financing, led by FTVentures. [more..]

Singapore - Advertising giant WPP's Wunderman marketing services network announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Asian interactive marketing firm Agenda. [more..]

San Francisco - Desi Hits, a South Asian entertainment portal that features celebrity interviews, music videos, podcasts and blogs, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $5 million in its second round of financing, from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Trident Capital and D.E. Shaw Group. [more..]

Los Angeles - Spot Runner, an Internet-based ad agency that sells excess TV ad inventory and helps small businesses create commercials, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired GlobeShooter, a network of more than 1,200 independent filmmakers, producers and production companies. [more..]

San Mateo, Calif. - Smaato, a provider of mobile advertising technology, has raised $3.5 million in its first round of venture capital financing, from angel investors including Aeris Capital CEO Uwe Feuersenger. [more..]

Melville, N.Y. - Prime Visibility Media Group (PV) announced on Tuesday that it has acquired online ad firm AdOn Network, and Prime Visibility, a search engine marketing firm. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - GoldSpot Media, a developer of mobile ad insertion for mobile broadcast TV, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $3 million in its first round of funding, led by Exa Ventures. [more..]

The Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead on Tuesday in his New York City apartment. The police said drugs may have been a factor, since pills that appear to be over-the-counter sleeping medication was found near his body. [more..]

The FCC has announced that on January 24 it will begin a new round of testing of wireless devices that will work in that part of the communications spectrum currently reserved for television station operation, blogs David Oxenford. [more..]

New York - Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider, will this week finally begin offering TiVo's digital video recorder interface to subscribers, initially in the Boston area, USA Today reports. [more..]

Irvine, Calif. - Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment game publisher unit announced on Tuesday that its "World of Warcraft" massively multiplayer online roleplaying game now counts more than 10 million subscribers. [more..]

London - U.K. mobile operator O2 fell just shy of its expected early sales of Apple's iPhone, and will report sales of 190,000 for the device's first two months of availability -- as opposed to the 200,000 it projected, FT.com reported. [more..]

Redwood City, Calif. - YuMe, the developer of an online ad network optimized for broadband video, announced on Tuesday that NBC will utilize its technology on the forthcoming NBC Direct service. [more..]

Los Angeles - Major retail store chain Target has launched a digital music promotion with Sony BMG and Hip Digital Media, and will offer artist John Legend's album "Live From Philadelphia" as a DRM-free MP3 download for $10. [more..]

Paris - French telecom Orange has partnered with Lagardere Active and music service provider Yacast, to launch a new ad-supported streaming music service in France called Musiline, Billboard reported. [more..]