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Live Blogging:
1:05 p.m.: MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe unveils the MySpace ‘Data Availability’ initiative, a “ground-breaking offering” to let MySpace users share their public profile data to Web sites of their choice throughout the Internet.
1:08: COO Amit Kapur says rather than updating information across the Web (e.g., default photo, favorite movies or music) for each site where a user spends time, now users can update their profile in one place and dynamically share that information with the other sites they care about. This will include a centralized location within the site that allows users to manage how their content and data is made available to third-party sites they have chosen to engage with. Will roll out in the coming weeks, supported by Yahoo, eBay, Twitter and Photobucket.
1:10: SVP Jim Benedetto says the MySpace Data Availability initiative uses OAUTH and Restful APIs as its core technology underpinnings. Users will see a standard link to allow access to other sites.
Q&A Starts: 1:16: Benedetto says MySpace is weighing whether or not to support OpenID for Data Availability. So, far just OpenAuth.
1:18: Kapur says MySpace is also joining the DataPortability.org initiative. Benedetto says there are no more specifics.
1:22: DeWolfe says MySpace will welcome Facebook if it wants to join. Call ends.
Before the call, I wrote: MySpace is set to make a major announcement in about, oh, 15 minutes. We’re still waiting for the call to start, but I have a PR.
I’ve been told it is NOT an acquisition even though CEO Chris DeWolfe, COO Amit Kapur and SVP Jim Benedetto are scheduled to speak. A MySpace spokesperson told me only that it’s “tech-focused and it features a suite of high-profile partners.”
Anyone want to guess what it is? Whatever it is, it’s definitely timed to offset the negative news that it is going to miss its revenue target by 10 percent for the year. Ouch.
I realize the company just opened up its developer platform to the public a couple weeks ago, but I’ve always wondered whether or not MySpace would do something to catch up to Facebook, which has about 20,000 apps built on top of it.
MySpace has assured me that there is plenty of pent-up interest from programmers who want to build on it, and that there is plenty of apps pie for the company to eat.
So, could this be an endorsement of the MySpace platform by Google, Yahoo and others in the name of OpenSocial? Or perhaps MySpace landed a new slew of ad partners to pump up the platform.
I’ll be on the call, live blogging some notes and will follow up with a piece in eWEEK.com later this afternoon.