Myspace has finally launched its redesigned site, which focuses on music discovery and playback. The improved media integration marks a dramatic strategy shift that was first announced several months ago by the site's new owner, Specific Media, in an attempt to rebrand the service as the "Hulu of music" rather than maintaining direct competition with Facebook as an alternative social network.
Specific Media, the new owners of Myspace, have used a special event to outline their growth strategy moving forward. The company is calling itself the ‘Hulu of music.’ It says that it has unique content rights with the Big Four labels and over 20,000 independent labels that ‘allows for ad-supported music video and audio streaming.’
Ad producer Specific Media, the new owners of MySpace, are set to outline their strategy to help rebuild the ailing social web service. “Future of MySpace Talk” will be hosted by Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook and is open only to “CMOs and senior marketers." Justin Timberlake, an investor in the Specific Media/MySpace deal, is expected to be on hand at the special event today.
Social network Facebook wants to shore up its media offerings by hiring a high-profile executive, sources claimed Tuesday. Facebook wants to bring more music and movie content. To this end, it spoke with MySpace co-President and former MTV exec Jason Hirschhorn, according to the Reuters tips.
Verizon and LG on Tuesday revealed they will begin shipping the successor to the Cosmos horizontal slider phone with the Cosmos 2. It retains the same layout, including the four-row hardware QWERTY keyboard once the face is slid open, but has a sleeker look and more modern software. It carries a web web browser and shortcuts for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
An expedition into the plugin code for Facebook's video chat by Jeff Rose has found possible clues as to Spotify integration coming soon. Along with calling on the actual Facebook app, Peep, it also goes to an unknown Vibes app. The component doesn't appear to be connected to the Skype-based video and is supposed to link to a "MusicDownloadDialog" box that serves as the giveaway of the plans.
(Update: Justin Timberlake is involved) MySpace's imminent sale has now been finalized as a new leak confirmed a deal has been struck. Ad producer Specific Media has agreed to buy the social network for $35 million. Under the terms seen by AllThingsD, current owner News Corp would have a "less than five percent" stake but cut the 400-person staff count in half.
MySpace's decline may not only include major job cuts but a sale at just a fraction of its purchase price. New sources claim the social network may sell for between $20 million to $30 million to lower-profile buyers. AllThingsD identifies ad network Specific Media at the front but followed closely by Golden Gate Capital, a private equity group known for rescuing companies in MySpace's state.
Myspace is rumored to be cutting up to 300 employees from its workforce over the next few weeks. TechCrunch reports that 150 employees will receive pink slips tomorrow and probably another 150 will be shown the door over the next few weeks. This comes as the struggling company could have a new owner as soon as tomorrow.
A further discovery inside the iOS 5 beta has shown that the social network integration runs deeper than just Twitter. Readily accessible settings in the contacts let users add Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, and even MySpace. The AllThingsD look showed that users just have to enter a given username and let the OS take care of the outbound links.
News Corp, the owner of MySpace is getting closer to signing a deal for MySpace since formally opening a bidding process in April. However, it appears that instead of an outright takeover, any deal will be in the form of a major partnership. News Corp, which paid $580 million for MySpace in 2005 had been hoping for offers at around $100 million for the struggling website, but has not received any credible offers in that vicinity.
News Corp's plans to sell off MySpace will come to a head this week, insiders said Tuesday night. About six companies, possibly including Vevo and Bebo's recent acquirer Criterion Capital Partners, were all expected to make bids by the end of the week. A Wall Street Journal source named an unnamed Chinese company as having talked about a deal, but it wasn't said whether this company would make the bid.
News Corp's plans to offload MySpace may have it move the social network to the music video site Vevo, insiders said. While tentative, the strategy would see MySpace sold to Vevo in return for a share of the project. Bloomberg's sources suggested it would bolster the music videos with artist and fan pages as well as MySpace's other music content.
News Corp. has reportedly ramped up efforts to divest its MySpace assets, unnamed sources have told the Wall Street Journal. Investment bank Allen & Company is said to be scheduling meetings with prospective buyers on behalf of the company, while providing the first in-depth looks at MySpace's financial information.
News Corp while talking about its latest results confirmed that it was effectively ready to sell MySpace. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey thought that the major redesign and music focus showed "very encouraging metrics" but weren't enough by themselves. Real growth "may be best achieved under a new owner," he said.
Canadian wireless and cable provider Rogers has started a new smartphone plans for entry-level smartphones, MobileSyrup reported on Thursday. The promotional plan is called an Exclusive $40 Promo Plan, and has gone into effect on January 25 for a limited, though unknown, amount of time. It requires a three-year contract and includes 200 minutes per month, 100MB of data and unlimited social networking, which grants unlimited access to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo, Flickr, Photobucket and LinkedIn.
MySpace today confirmed job cut rumors in a bid to keep the social network afloat. The company is dropping 500 workers, or about 47 percent of its entire workforce. It didn't say where these would be focused but made ad deals in Australia, Germany and the UK that implied more of the cuts would be located outside of the US.
MySpace's rumored dramatic job cuts should happen tomorrow, tips supported on Monday. Between 550 to 600 of the 1,100 workers at the music and social network site could lose their jobs on Tuesday. January 11 was a hard deadline for determining the cuts, according to AllThingsD contacts.
MySpace might cut up to 50 percent of its staff to stay alive if a leak from multiple industry tipsters on Friday is accurate. Planning is underway for cuts that could reach up to half of its roughly 1,100 workers both in the US and worldwide. Details were still very much uncertain, AllThingsD said, and could be less.
An updated list of CEO approval ratings from Glassdoor has shown a wide disparity between some technology firms' executives. Apple's Steve Jobs, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Eric Schmidt lead the group, all claiming 96 to 97 percent approval from their staff on the site. Rivals were much lower, however, and saw MySpace president Mike Jones at 60 percent, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz at 56 and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer at a particularly low 49 percent.
Social networking site MySpace on Tuesday announced it has launched a new site optimized for mobile devices with modern WebKit browsers. This includes iOS devices, Android, Palm and modern Symbian^3 and BlackBerry 6 devices from Nokia and RIM, respectively. The site features music and celebrity news and offers video content, but there is no music streaming.
News Corp might chop MySpace if it doesn't turn around within the next several months, the company's Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said during a quarterly fiscal results call today. After a $70 million drop in revenue and plummeting traffic, the executive said the results were "not acceptable or sustainable" and implied the site would shut down if it wasn't fixed. A timetable wasn't given, but MySpace's timeframe would be measured "in quarters, not in years," Carey said.
The LG Octane feature phone, spotted in a Verizon roadmap back in August, will come to the provider on Thursday, October 28. The device has a flip-out hardware QWERTY keyboard and is meant for young social networkers. The Social Beat Widget aggregates content from synced Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts, as well as over 50 news, sports and entertainment feeds.
Nimbuzz , which provides free communications over the Internet through an app, was given until the end of the month to remove support for Skype by the VoIP company. The reason for this differs depending on who you ask, with Skype saying Nimbuzz cut off all talks with it over complying with API Terms of Use and the End User License Agreement. Nimbuzz, on the other hand, believes the request was made because Skype was trying to sever all ties with third-party VoIP service before its IPO.
Making a messaging phone that stands out is increasingly a near-impossible feat: it needs to be more advanced than a market of dozens of rivals but keep the price well below that of a smartphone. Samsung's Seek is unique in adding a touchscreen but actually costing less than many of its rivals at just $20 on a contract. While tempting, is it enough to leap in? We find out in our Seek review.
Microsoft overnight gave the Zune HD its first significant app catalog update in months and headlined it with Windows Live Messenger. The app is the Zune's first instant messaging app and supports most of the same features, up to Facebook chat as well as social feeds from Facebook, Flickr and MySpace. It doesn't truly multitask but will change status to reflect any currently playing music.
Wireless provider MetroPCS on Wednesday announced that it has now made its 4G LTE service available in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the second rollout after Las Vegas. The service, available on the 4G LTE-compatible Samsung Craft, will cost $55 per month all inclusive and include unlimited voice, text and web services, at least initially. Subscribers will have access to a social network and IM aggregation app that brings together Facebook, MySpace and Twitter along with AIM, MSN and Yahoo.
Sprint has begun offering a unique Sanyo-branded handset built by Kyocera. The Innuendo is a horizontal flip-phone that reveals a QWERTY hardware keyboard and a 2.8-inch, 400x240 display. The exterior has a keypad that is hidden from view when not lit up and in use, along with a matching 1.3-inch OLED external display.
Apple tonight hit a milestone quickly as it reached over one million users of Ping within the first 48 hours of its going online. The tally represents a third of the three million that have downloaded iTunes 10. Internet Services VP Eddy Cue expected that number to grow much higher, as "many more people" are likely to download iTunes.
Symbian got a rare foothold in the US today as AT&T today picked up the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. The S60 device focuses on video first and can snap either 8.1-megapixel photos or 720p movies. As the OS already handles real multitasking, it can upload a video (over Wi-Fi) in the background.
RIM as part of the BlackBerry Torch launch provided details of the upgrade plan for BlackBerry 6. The new OS will reach the Bold 9700, the Bold 9650 and the Pearl 3G as well as future devices. A timetable hasn't been set, but it should reach devices in the "months ahead."
Verizon chose the mid-day to bring out an upgrade to its basic messaging phone. The Intensity II replaces the original and mostly claims a greener design with a partly recycled body and similar efforts in the box and manual. It's implied through Rhapsody subscription support that the phone now supports 3G, but the design still has the familiar sliding QWERTY keyboard, 2.2-inch display and 1.3-megapixel camera.S
Microsoft has released a minor update for its discontinued Kin phones. The software giant hasn't detailed the changes in version 1.0, build 2814.0, but Bernard on WMPowerUser has researched them. The update seems to focus on Twitter functions, including new Twitter avatars in the Kin Loop and a delivery of Twitter statuses that mimics Facebook and MySpace status updates, which includes a comment form and feed.
Industry contacts said on Wednesday that MySpace Music could turn to a subscription model. Backing an earlier story, the rumor asserts that the social network's executives have talked to labels about an unlimited service. Progress isn't known by CNET or others, but the new approach could be ready by the end of the year.
Verizon began shipping the Pantech Jest handset on Tuesday. The feature phone has a 2.6-inch color screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Navigation is done using an optical directional key, and users can send out IM and chat messages.
Microsoft today posted its second major iPhone app today in the form of Windows Live Messenger (free, App Store). The download gives the expected instant messaging on Windows Live but also integrates closely with other networks; it also talks to Yahoo Messenger contacts, pulls status updates from Facebook, Flickr and MySpace.
Sony Ericsson announced the entry-level Cedar handset on Wednesday. Although a feature phone, it gets top-level social network and e-mail access right from its home screen, such as for Facebook and Twitter. The handset can access HSPA-based 3G networks and is part of SE's GreenHeart range of eco-aware phones, which gives it recycled plastics, a low power charger, waterborne paint and a no-excess box.
Australian carrier Telstra has introduced a new home phone, the T-Hub, that brings smartphone-like applications into the home. The device, equipped with a 7.1-inch touchscreen, lets users read and send text messages, view Internet sites, play music and tune in to online radio stations. There is also a built-in organizer and widgets that bring the latest news, sports and weather to the screen.
Microsoft's recently unveiled KIN handsets will apparently only automatically fetch information from any synchronized social networks every 15 minutes, unless users manually refresh the feeds. This, according to one engineer involved in the project, is in the interest of preserving battery life and because of immature social network APIs.
Microsoft today took the wraps from Kin, its first self-branded phone line. The series focuses on social networking and centers on the Kin Loop, a home screen that shows Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Microsoft services. Contacts can be favorited and will take the lead in all parts of the phone UI depending on how often they're used.
Verizon started off CTIA by adding an LG messaging phone. The Cosmos brings a slide-out QWERTY messaging phone to the carrier and promises a handful of social networking features that tap directly into Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, including GPS for geolocation features. Calling is also a strong point as it auto-adjusts sound to compensate for ambient noise.
(Update: statement received) News Corp. is frantically trying to sell MySpace, a short but potentially major rumor maintained this afternoon. Company head Rupert Murdoch is said by SAI to be "desperately" looking for a buyer and has been talking to private equity firms as possible candidates. The social network would be tentatively valued at $700 million.
At the GDC show, InstantAction has shown off a new platform that will enable game developers to embed video games in websites such as Facebook, MySpace or blogs, as well as in e-mails. This means users do not need to download the games, and access them from any web-connected computer that has access to a website or e-mail that hosts their game. The company claims that thanks to a combination of in-browser, thin-client and progressive downloading technologies, embedding even high-end games is as easy and fast as uploading a photo or video.
Nokia today marked the rare start to a new phone line by launching the C5, its first Cseries phone. The range aims to bring smartphone-level software to the very entry level and runs Symbian S60 in a candybar shape. Although it has just a number pad and a D-pad for navigation, it has full messaging and web browsing as well as Nokia's custom home screen with a "carousel" of contacts, upcoming calendar items and new e-mail.
AT&T finished the week by adding to its mobile TV roster through the previously leaked LG Arena. The touchscreen feature phone appropriately supports AT&T's own 3G bands but also adds a FLO TV tuner for watching over-the-air subscription video on its 3-inch display. In its American guise, it further gets support for AT&T Navigator and the Social Net portal to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Samsung has introduced its latest feature phone, the S5620 Monte. The device features Wi-Fi connectivity and a 3-inch WQVGA touchscreen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Samsung's TouchWiz 2.0 Plus interface provides quick access to apps for social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. A 3.2-megapixel camera is paired with software capable of smile shots, panoramas, and face detection.
Online sales of music were up significantly in 2009 but still weren't enough to compensate for dropping CD sales, the IFPI said today in its annual overview. The revenue from Amazon, iTunes and other sources climbed 12 percent to $4.2 billion during the year, but a corresponding drop in CD sales is estimated to have made total revenues shrink by 8 to 9 percent to about $15.6 billion.
Samsung has released three new multimedia phones on Thursday, with the candy bar Shark (S5350), slider Shark 2 (S5550) and Shark 3 (S3550). Each has integrated Social Networking Services (SNS) that consist of shortcuts to social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and other favorite sites. At the same time, users can quickly upload to sites that include Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket and YouTube.
MySpace has quietly completed a buyout of music streaming service iMeem. Following a tentative deal two months ago, the large social network has reportedly bought up iMeem's assets for under $1 million. It's understood by TechCrunch that iMeem will be shut down and its users steered towards MySpace Music, which offers both free web streams and pay-per-download MP3s.
Apple may be on the verge of buying out streaming music site Lala, a leak indicated on Friday. The iTunes operator is understood to be in "very advanced" negotiations and may have even already agreed to all terms with only a formal signing needed to complete the deal. None of the companies involved have commented on the CNET rumor.
