9:55 AM -- Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) has approved the first official iPhone app with the ability to stream live video over 3G and WiFi connections -- possibly thanks to head honcho Steve Jobs's personal intervention.

According to a report from Ars Technica, the developer sent Jobs an impassioned plea after the app, Knocking Live Video, was rejected by the App Store over its use of a private API, which violates the store's developer agreement.

"When it was rejected, I decided not to give up and reach out directly to Steve Jobs via e-mail," the app's developer Brian Meehan, of Pointy Heads Software, told Ars Technica. "I reached out to Apple to reconsider our application due to its potential to culturally change how people share live moments phone-to-phone."

Two days after he sent his email, he was contacted by an Apple exec and told the app would be approved, in an order that came "directly from the top." The app is now available for free at the app store.

It could be a sign, some believe, that Apple will improve its approval process to keep innovative apps like Knocking Live Video from slipping through the cracks.

In other news:

CNBC has reported that a deal between General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) over a majority stake in NBC is complete, citing "a source close to the merger."

Facebook is rolling out new privacy controls and doing away with regional networks, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg announced on the site. Also mentioned in the Zuckergram: Facebook now has 350 million users.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is now allowing newspapers to set a limit on how many free news stories a user can access per day, under its new First Click Free program. The program, which only affects publishers that currently charge for access, will route users to payment pages when they try to access more than five stories.

— Erin Barker, Digital Content Reporter, Cable Digital News