Wayne, N.J. - Following several high-profile withdrawals of support from retailers and movie studios, Japan's Toshiba announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue its next-generation HD DVD format, handing victory in the much-hyped "format war" to rival Sony's Blu-ray. [more..]

Cambridge, Mass. - Sales of digital music downloads will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23% over the next five years, reaching $4.8 billion in revenue by 2012 -- when they will overtake CD sales, according to a new report from Forrester Research. [more..]

Brussels - Financial news and information publisher Thomson has won conditional approval from the European Commission to acquire international news agency Reuters, agreeing to divest certain businesses that include databases with financial information products before the deal proceeds. [more..]

Washington - One year after announcing plans to merge with rival Sirius, XM Satellite Radio continues to spend large amounts of money in an effort to land regulatory approval to complete the proposed $5 billion deal, the Associated Press reported. [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple on Tuesday introduced a new 2GB model of its tiny iPod shuffle portable music player, and reduced its standard 1GB model in price to just $49. [more..]

Rockville, Md. - WeddingWire, a start-up that operates an online marketplace for wedding planning and a related social community, said on Tuesday that it has sold a 40% stake in the company to New York-based Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO). [more..]

San Francisco - DoubleTwist, a start-up launched by notorious Norwegian hacker Jon Lech Johansen (aka DVD Jon) and partner Monique Farantzos, on Monday announced the launch of its platform for media-sharing and the closing of a first round of venture capital financing, from Index Ventures and Northzone Ventures. [more..]

San Francisco - Peanut Labs, a provider of Generation Y (13-25 year-olds) market research for social networks and other youth-oriented Web platforms, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $3.2 million in its first round of funding, led by Leapfrog Ventures and BV Capital. [more..]

San Francisco - Bleacher Report, a community-driven online sports network, on Tuesday announced its official launch, and said it has raised a first round of funding led by Hillsven Capital. [more..]

We’re written about the importance of MySpace for new artists in the past, but this table really brings it home: on average, MySpace captured nearly 40% of searches for these ten acts, blogs Robin Goad of Hitwise UK. [more..]

Guy Kawasaki described what he went through to get up-and-running with the new MacBook Air. [more..]

DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz? [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple said on Tuesday that it will begin offering exclusive audio and video downloads of every performance from the top 24 semifinalists on Fox's "American Idol." [more..]

Los Angeles - deviantART, an eight-year-old online art community with over 7 million registered users, has announced that it recently received its 50 millionth artist-generated submission. [more..]

Los Angeles - Madonna is in talks to distribute her directorial debut film, "Filth and Wisdom," through Apple's iTunes Store in the U.S. and U.K., Variety reports. [more..]

London - The BBC announced on Tuesday that it has added several of its TV programs to the offering at the U.K. iTunes Store, including episodes of "Torchwood," "Little Britain" and "Life On Mars." [more..]

New York - Video-sharing site Dailymotion on Tuesday introduced a high-definition video player, which will be available to users in the company's Motionmaker program "for the most creative UGC," as well as the to the company's professional content partners. [more..]

Los Angeles - Hollywood trade publication Variety on Tuesday announced the launch of The Biz, a social networking site for entertainment professionals and enthusiasts in the U.S. [more..]

San Francisco - Vollee, the developer of an application that can stream console-quality video games to 3G mobile phones, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Linden Lab to offer a mobile version of its Second Life 3D virtual world. [more..]