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macnn/electronista

12/13/2007, 10:35am, EST

Thursday, December 13th

Sources: MySpace prepping iPhone web client

Social networking site MySpace is developing its own optimized web client for the iPhone and iPod touch, Electronista has confirmed through authoritative sources. The News Corp-owned company hopes to create a reworked version of the site tailored just to Apple's multi-touch devices. Like the Facebook mobile site already in service, the site will significantly re-optimize profile pages, notifications, and other information from the site in a format suitable both to the screen size and to the need for large, touch-friendly buttons and links. The company has taken steps in recent months to rework the traditional desktop page into a more conventional and also flexible layout.

This version is known to be entirely separate from MySpace Mobile Web, which is designed primarily for conventional phones with very limited web browsers and screens, according to the tip. The company also develops custom programs for many of these same phones to take advantage of their controls but has not been able to do so with the iPhone, which will lack an official native software developer kit (SDK) until February.

Insiders have noted, however, that MySpace's signature music and video players for member profiles remain significant issues for the creation of the mobile page. On a computer, the content requires an Adobe Flash animation browser plug-in that currently does not exist for Apple's mobile version of Safari and may force MySpace to strip out or significantly rework the media playback tools to accommodate the iPhone.

A release date for the client is uncertain but should occur "soon," those familiar with the project say.

The web client is not believed to be connected with previous reports obtained by Electronista that Apple has been seeding an early SDK for native iPhone applications to several high-profile developers, though the previous report mentions at least one major social networking site as a recipient that remains unnamed.


Filed under: iPhone
Other story tags: Flash, MySpace

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212460 12/13, 10:58am, EST Dear God, no!!!
iPhones should be blocked from accessing MySpace, it's too dangerous.

When tasteless design (the average MySpace page) meets tasteful design (the iPhone), the two might annihilate each other in a tremendous explosion... like when antimatter and matter collide.

Can we afford to take that chance?

posted by phillymjs

212461 12/13, 10:59am, EST is it just me......
....or has macnn become iPhonenn? I must have missed the Mac content in today's postings.

posted by psdenno

212463 12/13, 11:28am, EST re: is it just me...
It's an Electronista story.

posted by koolkid1976

212464 12/13, 11:33am, EST Um..
wasn't the promise of iPhone the ability to see web pages, unaltered? As an iPhone user, this latest trend is slightly annoying as some sites that I access are getting smart to mobile Safari and actually forwarding to their mobile site. Ugh!

posted by gambit-7

212466 12/13, 11:46am, EST aaa
Go to myspace.com right now w/ your iPhone and see how fantastic it is. Hence the need for a stripped-down version. IMHO, website design in general has suffered greatly from the cushions of mega-bandwidths. To much meaningless clutter and form over content. Myspace would be numero uno on the list.

posted by moteltan

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