iTechNote

.mobi is a top-level domain approved by ICANN as a sponsored TLD. It will be restricted to mobile devices and sites providing services for them on the Mobile Web. It is sponsored by a consortium of companies including Google, Microsoft, Vodafone, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia. As of November 2005, the domain had been added to the global internet root and was getting ready for its opening. Starting May 22, 2006 industry members can register a .mobi domain name, June 12 for trademark holders, and Sept. 26 general registration. Over 12,000 companies have already registered their brands online for their .mobi site and some sites are even launched.

So why is this exciting ? Well how many times have you tried to surf the Internet from your device only to find that all the sites have been designed for a 17″ 1024×768 screen? How many times have you waited for a complex site to download and then given up? So if you access a .mobi site you’ll know that it will work on a mobile device! Try out live.mobi where you can now access your hotmail/live mail, spaces and even mobile search!

Jason Langridge has provided a list of sites that you can browse using any WAP browser or Opera Mini Simulator (require Java).

• info services: weather.mobi, msn.mobi
• sport & leisure: kicker.mobi
• entertainment: Tipp24.mobi
• retail: neckermann.mobi
• cars: bmw.mobi

Providing content tailored to particular devices can be done by other means than .mobi, such as using hostnames within an existing domain, content negotiation through the HTTP protocol, cascading style sheets or other forms of adaptation. Regardless of form, mobile Internet is getting more mature by each day.

via Mr Mobile