New York - Sony announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to by Bertelsmann's 50% stake in their four-year-old major record label joint venture Sony BMG, in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. [more..]

Port Washington, N.Y. - Apple's iTunes Store retained its position as the op U.S. music retailer during the first half of 2008, followed by Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Amazon and Target, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group. [more..]

Bethpage, N.Y. - Cablevision, the cable TV operator and owner of sports teams, newspapers, entertainment venues and cable networks, announced on Tuesday that its board has authorized management to explore "all actions necessary or desirable" to enhance value for the company's shareholders, including the spin-off of one or more businesses. [more..]

Duluth, Minn. - The federal judge presiding over the case of Jammie Thomas, the first person convicted by a jury of criminal copyright infringement of music on a file-sharing network, signaled during a proceeding on Monday that he is likely to declare a mistrial in the case, according to coverage by Wired.com and others. [more..]

San Francisco - Online social network Friendster announced on Tuesday that it has closed on $20 million in new funding, led by IDG Ventures, and named former Google executive Richard Kimber as its new chief executive. [more..]

London - Major record label EMI announced that it has agreed to sell its stakes in three Asian joint ventures to partner Typhoon for an undisclosed sum. [more..]

Dallas - Video rental giant Blockbuster announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with NCR to deploy 50 Blockbuster-branded DVD rental kiosks in a pilot program slated to begin in the third quarter. [more..]

Beijing - Koolanoo Group, a Chinese Internet and new media investment firm, has raised $25 million in a new funding round led by an undisclosed investor, along with previous investor Giza Venture Capital, PEHub.com reported.
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New York - Weplay, the developer of an online youth sports community, announced on Tuesday that it has landed an $8.6 million second round of funding, led by Deep Fork Capital. [more..]

Shanghai - Ultizen Games, a game development outsourcing company based in China, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $6 million in its second round of venture capital financing, led by Taiwan's PAC-LINK. [more..]

Burlingame, Calif. - BitGravity, a content delivery network optimized for video and rich media, announced on Tuesday that it has raised a $2.5 million seed round of funding, from Allen & Company and individual investors including Sling Media co-founder Blake Krikorian. [more..]

Boston - Strategy Analytics, a Boston-based research and consulting firm focused on information, communications and entertainment technologies, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Teligen from Harris Interactive. [more..]

There's the basic question of why Sony - or any company for that matter - would pay anything for a record company these days, blogs Paul Sweeting. [more..]

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I was a bit surprised to see how many of these sites remain independent. Facebook, Wikipedia and Craigslist are the top three that are still independent but there are lots of big community sites still up for grabs, blogs Heather Hopkins. [more..]

Tokyo - Softbank, Apple's iPhone distribution partner in Japan, announced on Tuesday that it is lowering the cost of basic monthly service for the iPhone from about $67 to $27.60. [more..]

Schaumberg, Ill. - Motorola on Tuesday introduced three new music-optimized handsets in its ROKR line: the EM30 'candybar,' which utilizes its ModeShift technology to switch keypad colors in music and phone modes; the EM28, a clamshell device with touch-sensitive keys; and the EM25, a slider phone with FM radio sharing capabilities. [more..]

Hollywood - CBS Television Distribution said on Tuesday that its "Entertainment Tonight" program will become a provider of entertainment and celebrity content on Microsoft's MSN portal. [more..]

Deerfield Beach, Fla. - The founder of CBS SportsLine.com on Tuesday announced the beta launch of OPENSports.com, a site that will include breaking sports news, social media tools, user-generated content and multimedia applications. [more..]

London - CBS-owned social music discovery service Last.fm on Tuesday announced the launch of its free on-demand listening and streaming radio service in Japan. [more..]

Santa Barbara, Calif. - Sonos, a developer of wireless, multi-room home music systems, on Tuesday introduced two new remote ZonePlayers that allow access to one's digital music library from any room in the house, or even backyard. [more..]

San Francisco - Digital music distributor INgrooves announced on Tuesday the release of "Songs For Tibet" through The Art of Peace Foundation, a benefit compilation in support of the Dalai Lama that features tracks from Sting, Dave Matthews, Alanis Morissette, John Mayer, Rush, Garbage, Moby, Underworld and others. [more..]