A new partnership between MySpace and Microsoft was announced last week. According to Mashable, the deal includes several key components.
“MySpace and Microsoft announced today that the MySpace website will be available for Windows Mobile this summer. In addition, they announced that MySpace would be supporting Microsoft’s Silverlight platform (a rival to the popular Adobe Flash), especially for the creation of applications on its developer platform.”
A few things are interesting about this:
- Microsoft already has a partnership with Facebook
- MySpace already has a partnership with Google
- It puts pressure on Google to patch things up with Facebook
Mashable contributor Ben Parr put together a great article about the latest round of tech-giant pattycake. He writes, “It’s a lot of partnerships and technology integration to announce all at once. It is also a very interesting move for both companies. This announcement adds a new dynamic to the rivalry between Google and Microsoft…”
I agree with Mr. Parr, but I think the Google/Facebook issue is even bigger. Google vs. Microsoft is old news, but Facebook is still a big deal. With rumors circulating that Facebook is tight on cash, it’s not out of the question to think that the fabled buy-out offer from Google might show its face again. Would Facebook accept? No, probably not. But a new “partnership” like this latest one might be in the works.
Anyone remember last summer’s Microsoft + Yahoo ordeal? Is Gates’ crew just grabbing at still-relevant web companies, hoping to stay afloat? I can’t say I’m shocked, but I wonder what they’ll think of next…