MySpace is launching a free, ad-supported cell phone tomorrow through its parent company News Corp.
The hope is to gain more advertising for mobile web sites. Fox will also be offering specialized mobile phones with versions for FoxSports, the gaming site IGN, AskMen and other local TV affiliates, as well as Photobucket , which will come later. With existing branded-options through At&T and Helio, MySpace has long been interested in gaining a large mobile audience. Now that the numbers have reached a good height, it's only natural that an ad-supported mobile phone would be the next step for the large social network. Not to mention, MySpace is getting an early-mover advantage here over companies like Google.
The branding options that MySpace is putting forth may be somewhat questionable, as we've already seen Disney's ESPN branded-mobile service fall to the wayside, and the model for launching branded phones has yet to prove entirely fruitful for third-party sites like News Corp., let alone an ad-supported model. I imagine the MySpace-branded mobile will be the most popular with end users. MySpace has also teamed up with T-Mobile to offer an optimized mobile version for the Sidekick.