New York - Despite its much-publicized removal of its programs from Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store in December, NBC (NYSE: GE) has begun offering streaming full-length episodes of shows including "The Office" and "30 Rock" for free on the iPhone, Silicon Alley Insider reports. The episodes, which are broken into four parts, included standard TV ads at the end of each segment.

London - U.S. consumer electronics and media retail chain Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) announced on Thursday that it paid $2.1 billion to acquire 50% of the Carphone Warehouse, a mobile phone retailer that counts over 2,400 stores in nine European countries.

San Jose, Calif. - PlayPhone, a mobile entertainment content distributor, announced on Wednesday that it has merged with U.K.-based Pitch Entertainment Group.

Los Angeles - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has signed deals with international wireless carrier Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) to distribute its iPhone in 10 countries, and with Telecom Italia to distribute the device in Italy. Vodafone will offer the iPhone in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey. Apple recently partnered with Rogers Communications to distribute the iPhone in Canada, and is already offering the device in the U.K., France, Germany and Spain.

Seoul, South Korea - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) announced on Tuesday that it has signed a long-term agreement with Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group to co-develop the next generation of in-car infotainment systems. The first product based on the Microsoft Auto software platform, which will provide voice-controlled connectivity between mobile devices, is scheduled for release in North America in 2010.

London - ROK Entertainment Group, a provider of mobile TV delivery technology, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Jalipo Ltd, a U.K. provider of IPTV services, through the issuance of 600,000 ROK shares in a transaction valued at about $16.8 million.

New York - The Associated Press (AP), the New York-based news wire, on Monday debuted its Mobile News Network, a multimedia news portal targeted at wireless users, particularly those with Apple (NASD: AAPL) iPhones.

Atlanta - uVuMobile, a provider of technology for delivering video and audio content to mobile handsets, has named Scott Hughes as its president and CEO. Prior to joining uVuMobile in 2001, Hughes was director of network and security consulting services at RTP, a Seattle-based consulting group.

San Antonio, Texas - AT&T (NYSE: T) plans to launch its AT&T Mobile TV service for cell phone users on Sunday, providing its customers an alternative to Verizon's similar V CAST service.

Los Angeles - Virgin Mobile USA on Wednesday announced a ringtone promotion with fast food chain Burger King and Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG), to create a "Virgin Mobile Ringtone Value Menu" that will offer a selection of ringtones for just $1 each. Artists whose songs are included in the promotion include Flo Rida, Mana, Buckcherry, Estelle and War.

Reston, Va. - Following the launch of its North American satellite earlier this month, ICO Global Communications said that it has signed a deal with Discovery Communications, which will provide content for the alpha trials of the company's new mobile interactive media service, known as ICO mim. Under the deal, similar to one the company signed with NBC Universal, ICO may select up to three Discovery channels for its live mobile television trials this summer.

Valley Stream, N.Y. - Zodiac Interactive, whose interactive TV software has garnered the company an Emmy award, announced on Wednesday that it has sold its Zodigo mobile content search engine through a management buy-out led by Matt Johnston, formerly Zodiac SVP of strategy and CEO of Zodigo.

San Jose, Calif. - CellSpin on Tuesday introduced its mobile application that allows users to post audio, video, photos and text on social media sites including Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Blogger, Picasa, Flickr and even live eBay auctions. The San Jose, Calif.-based company, which debuted its technology at DEMO Conference in January, said CellSpin currently works on over 300 mobile phone models, and supports Symbian, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry operating systems.

Basking Ridge, N.J. - Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) and international mobile network Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) announced on Tuesday that they will team to offer what they say is the "first ever live global mobile simulcast" tomorrow, when they provide live streaming of Madonna's concert at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

Toronto - Canadian telecommunications firm Rogers (NYSE: RCI) announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Apple (NASD: AAPL) to launch the iPhone in Canada this year, but declined to provide details on pricing or a release date for the device.

Twitter, the micro-blogging platform, has been in the news quite a bit lately (in particular for VC funding and rescuing a US blogger). This has helped drive US Internet visits up further to the increasingly popular service. Year on year, Internet visits to Twitter.com are up 8 fold. In the past three months, visits have more than doubled and traffic continues to climb, up 60% in the past month.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - InvenSense, a developer of motion sensing units for mobile consumer applications, said on Monday that it has raised $19 million in its third round of funding, led by new investor Sierra Ventures.

Los Angeles - While U.S. CD shipments were down 17.5% in 2007, digital formats now account for 23% of U.S. recording revenues, up from 16.1% in 2006 and 9% in 2005, according to year-end shipment data calculated by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A total of 809.9 million digital song downloads were sold in 2007, a 38% increase from 2006, along with 42.5 million digital albums, up 54% from the prior year.