The BlackBerry Bold
News Corp's MySpace is giving users the ability to view streaming, ad-supported video clips on mobile devices, Reuters reports.
Supported devices include the BlackBerry Bold, Palm Centro, Motorola Q9, LG Voyager, Nokia N95, and Samsung Instinct. iPhone — notably missing — is reportedly not wired to handle the streaming videos MySpace uses.
Those with phones equipped with streaming video capabilities can view video clips embedded on their own homepages, as well as those on friends' pages. MySpace also plans to support mobile video downloads in the future, a spokeswoman said.
In addition to user content, professionally-produced video will be available from sources like TMZ, the celebrity news and gossip website owned by Time Warner Inc; and satirical newspaper The Onion. Other participants include the National Hockey League and National Geographic magazine.
The service will be ad-supported, but MySpace did not disclose the cost of the project or project how much revenue the advertising will generate for the company.
Last month MySpace and MTV decided to serve adsin MTV music videos that were uploaded to the socnet without permission, a productive effort to monetize pirated user content.
At the Reuters Media Summit this week, MySpace shared aspects of its growth strategy, revealing that acquisitions will be central as it moves into mobile phone applications and international markets. The company also voiced intentions to build up its music service, which launched September's end.
MySpace Music is the result of hard-won partnerships with major music labels to stream their music - with ads running alongside, of course. Several sponsorships from major brands (Sony Pictures, State Farm, McDonald's and Toyota) allow it to offer features like playlist editors, personal music players and free music downloads.