MySpace prepares for battle

Rupert Murdoch's social network MySpace is moving from its Californian offices next week to San Francisco where it will hire 200 new employees. News Corp  is planning a complete overhaul of the site which is looking dated compared to its biggest rival Facebook. That it is moving the operation to Silicon Valley suggests it is serious about getting the best talent for the redesign. The blueprint for the new site sounds remarkably similar to Facebook; users will be able to  add mini applications or "widgets" more easily and customise their profile by dragging and dropping boxes.

Westminster isn't the only place that people steal the competition's best ideas.

MySpace is also planning to launch local versions of the site in Russia, India, Poland and Brazil. If the disastrous launch of the site in China is anything to go by, its success will be far from guaranteed.