Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace social network on Tuesday announced the launch of MySpace Karaoke, an online karaoke service powered by kSolo, which Fox Interactive Media acquired in April 2006. The service allows users with a microphone to view lyrics in real-time while singing along to licensed tracks, with the ability to record and share their performances with friends.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Thursday announced the public launch of its Application Gallery, which features more than 1,000 approved applications for the service developed using the Developer Platform the company launched in February. MySpace rival Facebook has been offering a developers' platform since last May, while Google announced its OpenSocial social media development platform in November.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Photobucket, the photo-sharing service acquired by News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox Interactive Media last year, announced on Tuesday the release of the site's application programming interface (API), which will allow developers to build new applications based on Photobucket. Any developer will now be able to offer Photobucket-based applications alongside offerings from Adobe, AOL, FotoFlexer, Intercasting, RockYou, Slide, Snapvine and TiVo.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s MySpace (NYSE: NWS) and NBC (NYSE: GE) News on Tuesday launched Decision '08, a new section on MySpace's IMPACT Channel that will feature in-depth election-related news, analysis and discussion. The site offers news feeds and daily videos from NBC News and MSNBC.com, as well as user-generated content from MySpace.

Las Vegas - Traffic at Hulu, the video site joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp., has tripled in the past 24 months, and surpassed its goals during its first month of public availability, according to comments from Hulu CEO Jason Kilar made at the NAB convention in Las Vegas, TVWeek.com reports. Kilar added that the library of content available through Hulu has quadrupled over the past four months.

Mumbai, India - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Thursday officially launched its latest localized site in India, promoting the new service with a rock concert featuring local artists, and a developer platform workshop. The company also said it signed a deal with Star TV, India's largest television network, to create an original network television program, "Campus Star," that will be featured on Channel V. The new show, currently airing on television in India, is a nationwide college talent competition featuring celebrity judges and the voting MySpace audience.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Thursday announced the launch of its first original U.K. co-production with Hammer Films, "Beyond the Rave." The 20-episode series, which will air new 5-minute episodes twice weekly, is MySpace's first 18-plus rated content, requiring users to sign in before viewing. Featuring a cast that includes actors from films including "Marie Antoinette," "The Descent" and "Eastern Promises," the horror series follows a British soldier about to ship out to Iraq, on a search for his girlfriend at a rave that is not what is seems. The series will be offered in 19 countries with subtitles; the companies also plan to eventually offer the series on DVD.

Maynard, Mass. - Generate Inc., a developer of business intelligence software, has been acquired by News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Dow Jones & Co., the New York-based provider of global business news and information services.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Tuesday announced the launch of a new localized version of its service in Korea, and said that another site for India will launch later this week. The Korean-language version of MySpace will compete with Cyworld, currently the most popular social network in the country. When the company launches its site for India, MySpace will count a total of 30 localized versions available in 15 languages.

Cannes, France - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Thursday announced a deal with ShineReveille International that will see its original content series distributed internationally through TV, DVD and merchandise. ShineReveille International distributes a broad array of programming from independent producers and U.S. networks to more than 150 territories worldwide.

Pity the poor regulator who, someday soon, will be faced with evaluating some proposed combination of all or parts of Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL and/or News Corp. (is there anyone else left?). What yardstick would you even apply? Someday, they're all going to be in the same combination of the content creation/distribution business, online advertising, applications development and platforms and social networking anyway. It's really only a question of how they get there and when, not whether or even should they. Trying to come to grips with that through the keyhole of any one deal or company is probably not a formula for a coherent regulatory framework for the future of the digital media industry.

New York - News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) is in negotiations with Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) to join its hostile takeover bid for Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), while Yahoo, which has rebuffed Microsoft's advances, has itself been holding talks with AOL and News Corp., The New York Times reported on Thursday. Should News Corp. join Microsoft in its offer, Yahoo would likely see a higher bid made than Microsoft's current offer, in a deal that would combine Yahoo with Microsoft's MSN and News Corp.'s MySpace.

Miami - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace online social network on Tuesday announced the official launch of its MySpace Latino destination, which features culturally relevant content from partners including ImpreMedia, Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS), Billboard en Espanol and Remezcla.com.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) FOX Networks, the company's international ad network, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired a majority stake in Utarget, a European ad network that specializes in online video and counts over 600 U.K. websites among its members.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox Interactive Media unit, which houses MySpace, IGN, Photobucket and other Web entertainment properties, this week announced a restructuring that saw the departure of chief revenue officer Michael Barrett, and the launch of a new Audience Network for its ad technology, to be headed up by Adam Bain. The moves come as Fox Interactive Media is expected to fall short of its $1 billion revenue target for its fiscal year ended June 30, TechCrunch reported, citing multiple unnamed sources.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace online social network on Thursday announced details of an anticipated new music service, a spin-off that will be a joint venture with major labels Universal Music, Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG and Warner Music (NYSE: WMG) owning minority stakes. The fourth major, EMI, is not party to the deal initially, but people involved in the negotiations told The New York Times it would probably join soon.

Cambridge, Mass. - JumpTap, a provider of mobile search and advertising services, announced on Tuesday deals with Fox Mobile Entertainment (NYSE: NWS) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) to provide mobile ad services across a range of sites. The company will sell available WAP ad inventory for mobile sites associated with Fox, FX, Speed, National Geographic Channel and Fox Reality Channel, in addition to NBC Entertainment, NBC Sports, Universal Pictures, USA Network, SCI FI Channel and Bravo.

Mountain View, Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on Tuesday that Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) has joined its OpenSocial network, which will allow developers to create applications that work across many different social media sites. Google also announced that it has formed a new non-profit foundation, with Yahoo and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace, which will work to advance the initiative while "ensuring all stakeholders share influence over its future direction."