LITTLE ROCK — MySpace says it will reinvent itself
MySpace, the social-networking website, is undergoing a “dramatic remake” to increase its appeal to younger users, News Corp.’s chief digital officer said.
“Compared to now, it will look, feel and operate completely different,” Jonathan Miller said last week at a conference in Los Angeles. “This is a full-on relaunch, and it will jar some people and excite others.”
MySpace is planning new features to revive user traffic after falling behind Facebook Inc. in worldwide users in April 2008. The unprofitable site has struggled with management turnover since News Corp. bought it for $580 million in 2005. Miller said the new design will “take MySpace back to its roots of music, discovery and self expression.
“It got away from that and the experience degraded,” Miller said. Referring to user traffic, he said “the new site will not be for everyone, and initially it will go down, but we expect that it will go back up again over time.”
Miller said he hopes Beverly Hills, Calif.-based MySpace will be profitable before the end of News Corp.’s fiscal year on June 30. The New York-based parent company is engaged in “productive” talks with Google Inc.
about a new search deal for MySpace and a range of content that News Corp. could provide the search engine, he said.
Xbox is Zune’s ticket to Europe
Microsoft Corp. is expanding its Zune music and film download service to Europe, betting that a base of more than 10 million users of its Xbox games console on the continent will help to take on Apple Inc.
The software, aimed at users of Windows computers, Xbox consoles, and smart phones with the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, will be available in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and Spain this fall, Microsoft said. The service competes with Apple’s iTunes and is currently available in the U.S.
“The Xbox is going to be a critical element of our strategy,” Chris Lewis, Microsoft’s vice president for interactive entertainment in Europe, said via phone.
Microsoft is looking for ways to generate the kind of consumer buzz and sales that have benefited Apple, Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry handset and Google Inc., the maker of the Android smart-phone operating system. The Windows Phone 7 system it’s releasing this fall will be targeted at high-end users initially, and the company is paying developers to create new programs for the platform.
The success of the Xbox, with 40 million users worldwide and 25 million signed up to the Xbox Live download service, has far outstripped other Microsoft consumer products. In June the world’s largest software maker scrapped its Kin smart phone after less than two months on the market.
Dell CEO flashes Android tablet
SAN FRANCISCO - Dell is working on a 7-inch tablet that runs Google’s Inc.’s Android operating software.
Not much else is publicly known about the computer.
Dell Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell flashed it briefly Wednesday at Oracle’s annual conference in San Francisco, but offered no hard details. Dell Inc. spokesman Matthew Parretta declined to say when the prototype would go on sale.
Dell is just one of many consumer electronics companies scrambling to crack the computer industry’s most compelling new niche. Apple Inc.’s iPad, with its 9.7-inch screen, proved consumers are interested - the company sold 3.3 million in the first quarter iPads were available.
Some analysts say iPads have already started eating away at laptop sales.
Dell’s first move in the modern tablet space was a much smaller gadget called the Streak, which went on sale in August. It has a 5-inch screen and runs a version of Android; it can also make phone calls on AT&T’s network.
The Streak got a chilly reception, with critics saying the device was too awkward to use as a giant phone and too small to use as a computer. The response highlights another of the industry’s biggest challenges: resolving the identity crises that crop up when devices try to do too many things at once.
Intel testing pay-for-speed PC plan
SAN FRANCISCO - Intel Corp., the world’s biggest maker of personal computer processors, is including Pentium chips that are better than advertised in some low end desktop computers. But to unlock their full power, buyers will need to a pay an extra fee.
The company says the program will enable people who have bought inexpensive PCs to upgrade them cheaply, through the Internet.
It’s only a test so far, with the goal of gathering feedback.
Business, Pages 24 on 09/27/2010