Cingular launches MySpace Mobile

As rumored [1], MySpace and Cingular Wireless are totally BFF. The social networking portal announced today an exclusive partnership with the U.S. carrier to deliver to mobile handsets MySpace services and tools like editing user profiles, viewing and adding friends, posting photos and blogs, and receiving MySpace messages.

"Not only are we excited about the ability for customers to stay connected to their MySpace community while they are on the go, we think this will open up a new world of interaction and content for them to share via MySpace," Cingular chief marketing officer Marc Lefar said in a prepared statement. "The photo upload feature of MySpace Mobile means Cingular customers will now have the ability to capture, record and share their world as it happens via their MySpace profile, creating a more enriching experience for our customers as well as their MySpace friends."

Media giant News Corp. acquired MySpace's parent company Intermix Media for $580 million in July 2005. MySpace is the most popular social networking site in the U.S., although usage has leveled off in recent weeks to roughly 80 million unique visitors per month. This past February, the service announced its first U.S. mobile network deal via MVNO Helio.

Cingular will charge subscribers $2.99 per month for the MySpace Mobile service. The deal expands a relationship first announced in March 2006, when the two companies launched MySpace Mobile Alerts, a service that transmits SMS alerts to Cingular subscribers upon receiving a message or update to their MySpace pages. According to Cingular, more than 75 million MySpace Alerts have been delivered so far.

For more on the MySpace/Cingular deal:
- read this release [2]

Related articles:
- Vodafone buddies up [3] to social networking
- MySpace, Cingular, InfoSpace team [4] for ringtones