– Disney: Disney (NYSE: DIS) is to open a UK version of its Club Penguin kids’ virtual world and is recruiting in Brighton to build the product. Launched in 2005 in British Columbia, the site was bought by Disney this August for up to $700; it includes free and subscription options. Disney says the world already has many UK users, all of whom wear penguin avatars, but it’s building a UK version with more specific references to British culture, the first localisation for the service. Was the Brighton thing deliberate? The maker of another virtual world, Second Life’s Linden Labs, this year opened a development office in the same town.
– ITV: ITV (LSE: ITV) is to launch a price comparison website, Campaign magazine claims. The site would contain price listings for products advertised on its TV chanels. With Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) seeming likely to shut or shrink Kelkoo, it could be a time to launch in this space in the UK. Then again, it may also be worth ITV buying up Kelkoo at a knock-down rate. Campaign’s details are extremely sketchy and appear to have been found out from one of the design agencies approached for the job.