Los Angeles - Smartphone maker Palm on Thursday introduced the Pre, its new multitouch handset intended to compete with Apple's iPhone, and early reviews from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and influential gadget blogs are largely positive. [more..]

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo has filed suit against the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), seeking a ruling from a judge that would permit the company to use players' names and statistics in its online fantasy football leagues without having to pay licensing fees. [more..]

New York - News Corp. announced on Thursday that it has hired Chase Carey, CEO of the DirecTV Group, to be its new deputy chairman, president and chief operating officer.  [more..]

San Francisco - Six months after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced it would cease its litigation campaign against file-swappers and instead focus on working with ISPs to curb unauthorized downloading, the group has yet to announce any deals with any ISPs, CNET News.com reported. [more..]

Los Angeles - U.S. album sales were down 17.8% in May compared to the same period a year ago, and 36.7% lower than sales reported in May 2007, Billboard reported. [more..]

New York - Universal Music Group announced on Thursday that fellow major record label Sony Music Entertainment has been added to its VEVO music video site joint venture with YouTube. [more..]

San Bruno, Calif. - Google's YouTube plans tomorrow to offer its first streaming full-length feature film on the same day the movie is released in theaters, Bloomberg reports. [more..]

Tel Aviv, Israel - The Box, an Israel-based producer of multi-platform entertainment and advertising content, announced on Thursday that it has received an investment of "several million dollars" from Greylock Partners. [more..]

Just as the music industry in the West begins to intelligently grapple with digital in a meaningful way, the East is recognizing that the potential for an industry even exists. It's an astounding paradox and an amazing opportunity that I look forward to being actively involved in for years to come, blogs Hal Bringman. [more..]

El Segundo, Calif. - DISH Network satellite TV service operator EchoStar announced that it has been granted a stay of Tuesday's patent ruling that ordered the company to pay TiVo $103 million in damages. [more..]

New York - Music industry trade publication Radio & Records will shut down after 36 years in operation and lay off all 40 staff members, Hypebot reported. [more..]

San Francisco - Cell phone maker Sony Ericsson on Thursday announced the addition of applications to its mobile PlayNow content and service platform. [more..]

Washington - National Public Radio's (NPR) Public Interactive, a unit that serves the online needs of some 325 public radio and television stations, announced on Thursday that it will collect and report public radio music streaming activities to SoundExchange on behalf of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [more..]

Santa Clara, Calif. - VUDU, the provider of an Internet-connected set-top box-based video-on-demand service, said on Thursday that it has added high-definition movies from Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment to its offering. [more..]

Bellevue, Wash. - Coinstar, an operator of automated coin redemption kiosks, has announced plans to begin offering prepaid online game cards for sites like Facebook and MySpace as one of the options for users of its machines. [more..]