News Corp continues new-media expansion with two more acquisitions

KSolo has karaoke versions of thousands of songs, which allows users to sing along, record their performances and then share them with their friends, webcast them to the world or send them by email.

Newroo.com, founded in 2002, allows people to search the web for content relating to their personal passions and add it to their own sites and blogs.

Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed. The companies become part of Fox Interactive Media.

The moves follow last September's $580m purchase of community website MySpace, which also lets users upload their own music, photographs and blogs, as well as connect with members who have similar interests.

Ross Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media, said: "Fox Interactive Media's acquisitions of Newroo and kSolo demonstrate our commitment to empowering users with interesting tools that they can use to further enhance their online experience and online identity."

The company said that its network of sites now reached more than 70m users worldwide. Other properties it owns including gaming site IGN, men's lifestyle site AskMen and Rotten Tomatoes, the site for film lovers.

Earlier this year, Rupert Murdoch said he believed that a "golden age" for media was dawning, adding "but all these wonderful inventions are nothing if you can not put something on them".

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