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Music-sharing service Grooveshark responded late today to having its Android app dumped from the Android Market, saying it wasn't sure why, exactly, the app had been pulled.

"We were surprised by Google's removal of the Grooveshark App from the Android Marketplace, and are still unclear as to what policies have now been violated," the company said in an e-mail to CNET.

As reported earlier today, Grooveshark, an online service that lets users upload songs and then share them with other users, saw its Android incarnation yanked by Google with little explanation. "We remove apps from … Read more

Google is planning to spend as much as $100 million to develop original content for YouTube as part of a site redesign around channels based on categories, according to a report published in The Wall Street Journal today that cites unnamed people familiar with the matter.

"YouTube is looking to introduce 20 or so 'premium channels' that would feature 5 to 10 hours of professionally-produced original programming a week," while other channels would be created from existing content on the site, one of the unidentified sources said, according to the story.

The changes will happen over time beginning … Read more

Netflix reportedly will pay about $100 million to stream every episode of Mad Men: chump change, if predictions of an $800 million streaming TV market turn out to be true. Also, it seems that everyone wants to get in on the tablet market, but given reported XOOM sales of only about 100,000, it's possible the only tablet market there is is for iPads. Plus, AT&T iPhones and their dropped calls, and Obama goes to Facebook. -- Molly

A growing number of people are willing to ditch their cable or satellite subscriptions in favor of online, over-the-air, and streaming television options, a new study from the Convergence Consulting Group has found.

According to the researchers, 2.07 million U.S. television subscribers will have "cut the cord" between 2008 and the end of 2011. Between 2008 and 2009 alone, the firm said that 550,000 households cut the cord. Last year, it estimates 1 million households did the same.

Of course, that still represents a tiny fraction of the overall viewership. Convergence Consulting says that at … Read more

Blockbuster has finally found a suitor.

Dish Network announced today that it will be acquiring the movie rental chain for $228 million. The satellite provider participated in a bankruptcy court auction for Blockbuster, making a winning bid of $320 million. With adjustments for cash and inventory, the companies agreed on the final price.

After failing to see the changing times and allowing Netflix's DVD-By-Mail service to grow under its nose, Blockbuster was met by significant challenges in the rental space. In 2009, a little over a year after it tried to acquire Circuit City for $1 billion, Blockbuster was … Read more

In the news today, Google is coming under the antitrust microsope, your privacy is breached left, right, and center by everyone from Pandora's mobile apps to the growing Epsilon email breach scandal. The MPAA files the least shocking lawsuit ever (sorry, Zediva), two venerable tech names become one, and the leaky ship of the NY Times paywall gets yet another loophole. --Molly

Hulu is forecasting sales of close to half a billion dollars and more than a million Hulu Plus subscribers this year.

In a blog posted yesterday, CEO Jason Kilar marked the end of the first quarter with some notable figures and projections about the company's recent past and upcoming future.

The forecast of almost $500 million in sales for the year follows the first quarter in which revenue shot up around 90 percent compared with last year's initial quarter, according to Kilar. For 2010 as a whole, Hulu took in sales of $263 million.

Touting the expected rise … Read more

Dish Network has signed a deal to make more movies available through its online video-streaming service, the satellite provider said today. The deal with Epix--a joint venture of Paramount Pictures, MGM, and Lionsgate--will give Dish customers access to more than 3,000 Epix films and programs via DishOnline.

According to Dish, its customers will be able to watch everything from "Iron Man 2" and "Shutter Island" to Bon Jovi concerts via DishOnline.

The streaming service is available at no additional charge to Dish Platinum customers, who pay an extra $10 per month on their television bills … Read more

It's the latest internet webcam sensation that has taken over the BOL crew. Google is bidding for some sweet telecom patents, but is anyone bidding on MySpace? We don't think so. Plus, Computer Love returns to brighten up this Monday.