San Francisco - Major label EMI, the lone holdout from MySpace's forthcoming music service joint venture with the other majors, is now close to signing a deal to join the venture, CNET News.com reported, citing two sources close to the negotiations. [more..]

Seattle - Amazon.com announced on Tuesday that its Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com) subsidiary has launched free streaming of full-length movies and TV shows. [more..]

Washington - Ninety-seven percent of young Americans ages 12 to 17 play video games, including 99% of boys and 94% of girls, according to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. [more..]

Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft on Tuesday released its previously announced software update for its Zune portable digital media player, and also said that it partnered with Wi-Fi hotspot firm Wayport to allow Zune owners to access the Internet from more than 9,800 participating McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. [more..]

New York - Time Inc.'s Maghound Enterprises on Tuesday announced the beta launch of Maghound, an online magazine subscription service that lets users pay a single monthly fee for access to a range of magazine titles. [more..]

San Francisco - BitTorrent, a provider of peer-to-peer-based content delivery services, has raised $17 million in a third round of funding, led by DCM and Accel Partners, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing. [more..]

Hollywood - Despite flattening sales, the DVD remains the most popular movie format in the U.S., as $8 of every $10 spent by consumers on movies go towards DVD sales or rentals, while less than 1% of Americans' movie budgets is currently spend downloading movies and TV shows from the Web, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group. [more..]

Hong Kong - Imagi, a developer and producer of computer-animated movies ("TMNT"), said on Tuesday that it has raised $30 million in new financing, through placements of its shares with Shui On Holdings Limited and Mehta-Imagi. [more..]

Framingham, Mass. - Punchbowl Software, the operator of event-planning website MyPunchbowl.com, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $2.1 million in its first round of venture capital, which was led by Contour Venture Partners. [more..]

Atlanta - Whoop, the Atlanta-based provider of a Web-based platform for creating and publishing content to mobile devices, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $2 million in angel funding from a group of individuals. [more..]

San Bruno, Calif. - Global Lost & Found, a provider of tracking and recovery services for portable electronics, said on Tuesday that it has raised an undisclosed amount in its first round of funding, led by DFJ Frontier. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Social Gaming Network (SGN), a developer of games for social media, said on Tuesday that it has acquired (fluff)Friends, a Facebook application that lets users adopt virtual pets and compete to earn virtual currency. [more..]

New York - AT&T plans to allow owners of Apple iPhones to use the devices to control features on its U-verse broadband and digital TV service, Reuters reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - Video game publisher Activision plans to triple the amount of "Guitar Hero" content it produces over the next two years, including both new versions of the game and downloadable content for the titles, CEO Mike Griffith told analysts, GameDaily reported. [more..]

San Diego - Slacker on Tuesday released its second-generation personal radio player device, which automatically downloads and continuously refreshes thousands of personally-selected songs and turns them into personalized radio stations. [more..]

London - U.K.-based digital music retailer 7digital on Tuesday announced a new agreement with Sony BMG to sell songs in the DRM-free MP3 format, making the retailer's entire 4-million-track catalog now available as MP3s. [more..]

London - U.K. retail chain Tesco has licensed Warner Music Group's catalog for distribution as MP3s via its Tesco Digital store [more..]

Madrid - Yes.fm, a Spain-based streaming music service, has announced its launch with a library of 2 million songs from all four major labels and a handful of independents, Billboard reports. [more..]

New York - Major record label Sony BMG's Commercial Music Group on Tuesday announced the launch of MovieTunes, a new service that helps filmmakers choose music for their films. [more..]