News Corp buys Photobucket and Flektor

As reported at the beginning of the month, News Corp has confirmed that it has bought photo sharing website Photobucket for $300 million dollars.

In a separate deal, News Corp. said it is also acquiring real-time video and audio editing site Flektor Inc.

In a statement on the company's website, founder, Alex Welch, said that the news should make any difference to its customers and that it plans to "continue developing innovative tools that enhance self-expression and give you the best media sharing, linking and searching experience on the Web".

News Corp are citing the deals as representing "a powerful combination and we are thrilled for them to join our network".

Denver-based Photobucket has more than 42 million users, with an estimated 47% who then link their photos to social networks such as MySpace.com, according to the company.

California-based Flektor, which provides tools to create mash-ups or other types of user-generated media clips, was founded in 2006.