The new service, MySpace Mobile On Helio, will enable MySpace users to read and post to the site for free from their mobile devices. To support the new service, Helio recently unveiled two new mobile phone models that have proven popular among mobile users of SK Telecom’s similar networking service, CyWorld.
MySpace Mobile On Helio will give users mobile access to email, bulletins, profiles, blogs and photos.
The new phones are tentatively called the Hero and Kickflip and are made by Pantech and VK Mobile. Each will feature large color screens and cameras, but no Qwerty keyboards, the company said.
The service will be part of the Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless' high-speed networks, and Holio will function purely as a mobile virtual network operator.
Dayton said that the new mobile service will enhance MySpace’s offerings for its more than 50 million users by giving them the option of making music, videos and game purchases over their mobile devices.
"What our target really cares about, this young consumer, is being connected to their friends and being connected to their world," Dayton said.
MySpace Mobile On Helio is slated to launch in April, the company said. Prices for the phones or the mobile MySpace plan have not yet been revealed, but Dayton said they will not be prepaid plans.
MySpace has risen to rapid dominance in the online networking scene since it was created two years ago and then sold to Rubert Murdock’s News. Corp. for $580 million. The site reportedly gets twice as much traffic as search engine Google and has unseated Friendster as the No. 1 destination for social networking online.