Mountain View, Calif. - LinkedIn, the creator of an online professional network with more than 23 million members, said on Wednesday that it has secured $53 million in its fourth round of funding, which values the company at just over $1 billion. [more..]

Waltham, Mass. - Navic Networks, a provider of audience measurement data and software for optimizing the delivery and placement of interactive TV ads, has been acquired by Microsoft. [more..]

New York - Internet advertising revenues reached $5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2008, representing an 18.2% increase over the same period of 2007, according to data from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. [more..]

Baltimore - Sprint Nextel plans to officially launch its WiMax high-speed mobile Internet service in Baltimore this September, the company's CTO said during a conference in Amsterdam. [more..]

Los Angeles - Global video game industry sales are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 10.3% and reach $68.3 billion in 2012, up from $41.9 billion last year, according to data PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook excerpted by The Hollywood Reporter. [more..]

Arlington, Va. - The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced plans for a new technology event and competition, designed to uncover the most innovative new consumer technology products coming to market. [more..]

Menlo Park, Calif. - Center'd on Wednesday announced the launch of a public beta of its event invitation site, and said it has raised a total of $6.5 million in funding, from investors including Norwest Venture Partners and Keynote Ventures. [more..]

London, Ky. - Wazoo Sports, an Internet broadcaster of high school sports events, said on Wednesday that it has received a $2 million equity investment from Meritus Ventures. [more..]

It looks like the iPhone competitor that benefited most from iPhone comparisons in Britain was Blackberry – ironic, considering that many are touting the new 3G iPhone as a ‘blackberry-killer’, blogs Robin Goad. [more..]

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New York - Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks, has announced that it will split its video games and virtual worlds development teams into two separate divisions. [more..]

New York - CBS on Wednesday announced a "sneak peek release" of TheInsider.com, its new celebrity news and information site that aims to compete with TMZ.com and PerezHilton.com. [more..]

New York - The New York Times on Wednesday launched a beta test of a new social media feature, TimesPeople, that lets recommend stories to one another and view lists of friends' recommended stories on a "news feed"-like readout, CNET News.com and Beet.tv reported [more..]

New York - Time Warner's AOL on Wednesday announced a deal with Scripps Networks, to deliver clips from shows on HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network and Fine Living Network across AOL Video and other related sites. [more..]

Luxembourg - Jamendo, a site that exclusively offers albums made available for free under a Creative Commons license, has added its ten thousandth album, Wired.com reported. [more..]

New York - 4th Story Media and HarperCollins Publishers announced on Wednesday their partnership in The Amanda Project, a multi-platform series to be written in part by its audience, girls ages 12-14. [more..]

Los Angeles - ReelTime, a for-pay online video-on-demand site that streams content directly to televisions, has signed a deal with Disney-ABC Domestic Television to offer content from Walt Disney Pictures, Disney-Pixar, Touchstone and Miramax on the site, Broadcasting & Cable reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Internet TV network Revision3 announced on Wednesday that it has signed a deal to syndicate its original content on video site Revver. [more..]

Arlington, Mass. - HeavyInk.com on Wednesday announced the launch of its online comics retail and community website. [more..]