MySpace could be on its way to becoming the "new MTV", now that the social networking giant is announcing a new music deal with several recording industry majors. The new service will carry an old name, MySpace Music, but offer free ad-supported music and music video streams, as well as a marketplace for MySpace users to buy music downloads, ringtones, concert tickets and merchandise. According to paidContent.org (link: http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-myspace-music-deal-with-three-labels-en-route-possibly-by-friday/), MySpace Music will be a joint venture between News Corp., Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG and Warner Music. EMI Group, the last music major, is still in discussions about …

AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la Vega on Wednesday said he was "confident" that Google's mobile operating system Android "is something we are going to want in our portfolio." Adding the telecom giant to its partner portfolio would be a huge boost for Android, as AT&T would be the largest mobile carrier to embrace the mobile OS. T-Mobile USA, which plans to offer Android phones in the second half of this year, and SprintNextel are the others. Android's major draw is customization, which would allow the carriers to promote their own data and services while still offering …

Yahoo has thrown down the gauntlet in the nascent mobile search wars with its new voice search offering. On Wednesday, it announced a partnership with voice recognition startup Vlingo to power its oneSearch mobile search platform. Along with the exclusive partnership, Vlingo also received a $20 million round of funding from a number of investors, including Yahoo. Frustrated with constantly having to type away on your mobile keypad? Voice search could be the answer. Not only does it give your hands a rest, but it's also faster: Imagine how nice it would be to press a single button …

While the weak economic climate has most tech stocks sucking serious wind, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is on a tear. The Canadian company reported that sales and profits more than doubled in the fourth quarter, comfortably beating analysts' expectations. The full fiscal year revenue was $6 billion, up 98 percent from 2007, while net profit was up 102 percent to $1.3 billion. The company also expected first quarter results to be much better than expected. The good news drove RIM shares up 5 percent in after hours trading. Investors have been buoyant about RIM since …

Google, as expected, went ahead with layoffs at newly acquired DoubleClick. The search leader cut about 300 jobs from DoubleClick's American operations, representing about one-quarter of the company's domestic workforce. Cuts are also expected overseas, but these will come at a later date. The cuts represented the first sizable layoff in Google's history. The company also said it would offload Performics, DoubleClick's search engine marketing unit. "It is clear to us that we do not want to be in the search engine marketing business," Tom Phillips, director of DoubleClick integration at Google, wrote on the company's official …

No one stands to benefit more from the opening of wireless networks than voiceover Internet Protocol providers like Skype. To that end, the eBay company last year asked the Federal Communications Commission to force wireless carriers to allow any device or application to run on their networks, a request that was basically a throwback to the landmark Carterfone decision of 1968--a decision that ultimately led to the (temporary) undoing of AT&T. However, a funny thing happened while the FCC considered Skype's request: First Verizon, then AT&T, and finally, Sprint, announced they would open their networks, publishing the technical …