Los Angeles — MySpace, in their struggle to stay relevant is bulging up in its mobile push, on Tuesday announced a new mobile optimized website and iPhone app.
The news appears the same day that the social networking site promoted Mike Jones to the post of CEO, and Dustin Finer to the position of chief of operations. It also comes a day after News Corp. COO Chase Carey said he was open to selling MySpace or teaming up with another company.
The mobile site, accessible starting Tuesday, November 30, also offers seamless access to users’ favorite artists and music, as well as the ability to browse media on MySpace such as pictures and videos. It is compatible with all iPhone, iPod touch, Android and Palm phones, plus select Nokia and BlackBerry devices.
The new site and app are also an expansion of the rebranding work on the main site that was rolled out at the end of October.
Similar to the primary website, which mainly focuses itself around key entertainment brands, the new mobile website also promises “a rich discovery experience around entertainment.” Both platforms will center on music and interaction with artists. The iPhone app will access the user’s iTunes library to create a news stream populated by his or her favorite bands. This will mean access to breaking news, blogs and status updates from music artists and celebs, and video from stablemates like Fox but also others like TMZ.
As expected from the recent MySpace realigning, music, celebrity news and video content can be found on the mobile site, however music streaming has been left off the current version of the website. It is also turning on more social features to better compete with Facebook and other social nets that have already established themselves on mobile: sharing photos, videos and links; status updates. And more “internetwork” networking, along the lines of MySpace’s content deal with Facebook.
The mobile website, which is released today, can be accessed on iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Palm and select Nokia and BlackBerry devices. The app will be unleashed for iPhone just in time for Christmas, with an Android version scheduled for launch in January.
The revived emphasis on mobile underscores how MySpace’s audience has evolved over the years: a majority are still accessing it by PC, but now Myspace says a third of its “Gen-Y” users are also going to MySpace via mobile on a daily basis.