Apple iPhone could hurt the .mobi extension

[DNWizardX9]

Mobile sites are boring an unattractive.
Kind of
.Mobi sites are boring an unattractive.
TRUE if you forward them to .com, you can make them nice
Mobile sites are difficult to monetize with advertising.
FALSE
Mobile sites are not an pleasant place to do research or conduct business.
VERY FALSE
Mobile sites are good for a quick on/off experience when there is no better opportunity available to you.
FALSE

The facts i stated are based in Japan. I guess from where you are, you are so late in mobile technology. So in this case, you know everything about mobile technology 5 years ago?

Mobiledesigner, as you mentioned trends here are different than in the U.S.. Screens are bigger in Japan. The iphone is yesteryear. The screens of U.S. cell phones are way too small to conduct business on them. I might check out a site for a second and switch it off cause its so horrid to navigate.

Trust me I would love to have a Japanese phone in my hand. Until the government stops taking bribes from Verizon etc it ain't gonna happen at a raid pace. However maybe the iphone will make phone companies think again.

[Fearless]

Why is this Frager cat spamming me and where did he get my email address?

http://fragerfactor.blogspot.com/200...n-dotmobi.html

[Gerry]

Re: Apple iPhone could hurt the .mobi extension

Was this thread about .mobi or the iPhone...or both?

I had asked if anyone else had anything new to add seeing that we keep kicking the same dead horse.

So here is something new.

If you disagree with these points by the Technology columnist for Forbes Magazine, his email is at the bottom.

So for all of those who want to deal the death blow to .mobi, be prepared to shell out the expected $2000 for the two year deal to get this handy new pretty phone that (gulp!) does not live up to what it is touted to do.

Also, read the whole article. I only highlighted a couple of items. There are some pearls of wisdom that you may find interesting.

Look for the part that Jobs hopes to capture 1% of the cell phone market with this iPhone.

http://www.forbes.com/home/wireless/...phonemain.html
Why You May Not Want An iPhone
Dan Frommer, 06.11.07, 6:00 AM ET

But for whatever reason, Apple decided not to allow the iPhone to work on AT&T's fastest, "third-generation" (or 3G) wireless network, opting instead for its slower "EDGE" network. The difference is apparent even on a small-screen device browsing scaled-down, mobile-edition Web sites. When you're surfing full-size Web pages, as Apple touts on the iPhone, the slow speeds could be a deal breaker.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/08/iph...hisSpeed=20000
In Pictures: Why You Don't Want An iPhone

Network Speed

The iPhone isn't equipped for AT&T's fastest "third-generation" (or 3G) wireless data network. Instead, iPhone users are stuck on an older, slower network, which means Web pages will take longer to load. In theory, iPhone users can also hook up to a wi-fi connection, but that's a less useful feature than it should be.

Dan Frommer is a Technology Reporter at Forbes.com.
E-mail: dfrommer@forbes.net
Press releases and public relations contact by e-mail.

[MobileDesigner]

........Trust me I would love to have a Japanese phone in my hand. Until the government stops taking bribes from Verizon etc it ain't gonna happen at a raid pace. However maybe the iphone will make phone companies think again.

You are so right! the systems is so slow there! Those bribes are slowing everything down there. The iPhone will be a great thing for everyone there. I remember Steve Jobs getting into a little trouble with the goverment about something. I cant remember what or when exactly, but do you think it has something to do with it?

[Gerry]

I've enjoyed the hell out of this thread, the lines drawn in the sand, the death of .mobi, the "its all that and then some" of the new iPhone that not a soul among us has even seen, used, or tested.

Talk about the hype...

...someone care to delve into the hype behind the Apple iPhone introduction and commercials? Seems there was quite a bit of talk about the hype behind the .mobi and how it was a money making gimmick.

Apple's motive? Surely not the dollar...naw, can't be.

And I really enjoyed the part of Steve Jobs hoping to capture 1% of the market.

Actually, as much as I would love to jump into this headfirst, I am drowning at work and finally getting a "lunch" break at 230 a.m.

Please, carry on the "discussion"...

Re: Apple iPhone could hurt the .mobi extension

Was this thread about .mobi or the iPhone...or both?

I had asked if anyone else had anything new to add seeing that we keep kicking the same dead horse.

So here is something new.

If you disagree with these points by the Technology columnist for Forbes Magazine, his email is at the bottom.

So for all of those who want to deal the death blow to .mobi, be prepared to shell out the expected $2000 for the two year deal to get this handy new pretty phone that (gulp!) does not live up to what it is touted to do.

Also, read the whole article. I only highlighted a couple of items. There are some pearls of wisdom that you may find interesting.

Look for the part that Jobs hopes to capture 1% of the cell phone market with this iPhone.

http://www.forbes.com/home/wireless/...phonemain.html
Why You May Not Want An iPhone
Dan Frommer, 06.11.07, 6:00 AM ET

But for whatever reason, Apple decided not to allow the iPhone to work on AT&T's fastest, "third-generation" (or 3G) wireless network, opting instead for its slower "EDGE" network. The difference is apparent even on a small-screen device browsing scaled-down, mobile-edition Web sites. When you're surfing full-size Web pages, as Apple touts on the iPhone, the slow speeds could be a deal breaker.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/08/iph...hisSpeed=20000
In Pictures: Why You Don't Want An iPhone

Network Speed

The iPhone isn't equipped for AT&T's fastest "third-generation" (or 3G) wireless data network. Instead, iPhone users are stuck on an older, slower network, which means Web pages will take longer to load. In theory, iPhone users can also hook up to a wi-fi connection, but that's a less useful feature than it should be.

Dan Frommer is a Technology Reporter at Forbes.com.
E-mail: dfrommer@forbes.net
Press releases and public relations contact by e-mail.

[Duckinla]

...someone care to delve into the hype behind the Apple iPhone introduction and commercials? Seems there was quite a bit of talk about the hype behind the .mobi and how it was a money making gimmick.

The Iphone doesn't much play into my thoughts about .mobi. As I said originally, the .mobi extension should be so lucky to find itself actually fighting with the Iphone for marketshare.

[Gerry]

q

[PRED]

You nailed it Doc .

[Gerry]

...the .mobi extension should be so lucky to find itself actually fighting with the Iphone for marketshare.

We will perhaps need to start a new thread to define the following:

"lucky"
"marketshare"

Once those words are defined, we can then discuss where ABCnews.mobi fits in on the "LUCKY" and "MARKETSHARE" end of the spectrum:

Hmmm...ABC owns what? A tv station?

Wait...

THEY ARE THE SAME COMPANY THAT OWNS DISNEY WORLD!

Oops, secret is out.
-------------------
WHO OWNS WHAT
The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company
http://www.disney.com/
Corporate History

* The Walt Disney Company corporate timeline

Holdings
publishing
broadcast and cable
movies
financial and retail
multimedia
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The Walt Disney Company 500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
(818) 560-1000
http://disney.go.com/corporate/

Film

Walt Disney Pictures

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Hollywood Pictures

Miramax Films
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Pixar

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Cable Television

ESPN
ABC Family
Disney Channel
Toon Disney
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Lifetime Network (partial)
A&E (partial)
E! (partial)



Radio
ABC Radio

* WKHX – Atlanta
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* WBAP – Dallas
* KSCS – Dallas
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o Hyperion
+ Miramax BooksESPN BooksTheiaABC Daytime PressHyperion Audiobooks
+ Hyperion East
* Disney Publishing Worldwide
+ Cal Publishing Inc.
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* Hyperion Books for Children
# Jump at the SunVolo
# Michael di Caupa Books
+ Disney Global Children's Books
# Disney PressGlobal Retail
# Global Continuity

Magazine titles include:

* Automotive Industries
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* Disney Magazine
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* Top Famille - French family magazine
* US Weekly (50%)
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Parks and Resorts

Disneyland Resort

Walt Disney World Resort

Tokyo Disney Resort

Disneyland Resort Paris

Hong Kong Disneyland

Other
Buena Vista Theatrical Productions
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Disney Toys
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Walt Disney Internet Group

The Iphone doesn't much play into my thoughts about .mobi. As I said originally, the .mobi extension should be so lucky to find itself actually fighting with the Iphone for marketshare.

This thread was never about market share. It was about how the Apple iPhone could hurt the .mobi extension. It was all about the hype behind the .mobi but never once all the hype behind the iPhone, hype that began playing out months ago with a "reported" TM infringement. Controversy is free publicity and Apple certainly got plenty of mileage out of that. Look back at all the chatter and threads on the forums regarding that ruckus.

Now we are going into a pre-launch stage built with much fanfare and hype around the iPhone and because of a couple of commercials all of a sudden the question is raised by the OP; "Could .mobi have a shorter lifespan than expected?"

Based on the product reviews of someone who has actually tested, held, used, and compared products, it (the iPhone) begs to question, "Will the iPhone be as successful as it was hyped to be?

Lots of questions remain unanswered for both the .mobi and the iPhone. But to pronounce the .mobi dead and to bury it without even giving it the last rights was quite premature.

So, everyone hold tight to the reins of your dot coms, your dot mobis, and certainly hold on tight to those Nokias, LG's, Samsungs, Motorolas, Blackberry's, Treo's...

It is kind of like the Playstation 3 hype this past Christmas. Limit the release to the US market to 400,000 units to create mass hysteria. Again, contoversy=free publicity. Units selling for $2500-$4000. How much are they today?

Beyond a doubt, there will be a made rush to snatch up the iPhone. Why? It's kind of like the earlier Lay's commercials that Jay Leno used to do..."go ahead. Eat em up. We'll make more"

And if it fails to live up to or perform as expected or is not capable of the performance level that consumers want, then as Forbes magazine puts it,

If Apple's iPhone doesn't stack up, numerous competitors, like Samsung, LG Electronics, Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) and a host of phones running rival Microsoft's (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Windows Mobile platform, will be happy to take their business.

[Gerry]

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1041/...530f629b_t.jpg
www.sdca.mobi

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1047/...2350e620_t.jpg
www.En-Route.mobi

iPhone Friendly

[Jungle]

http://www.sbwire.com/news/view/12490

[Gerry]

News like this doesn't hurt also.

http://www.namepros.com/dot-mobi/324...i-network.html

Hello,
Thank you for this interesting discussion about our .mobi network. I just want to clear up a couple of things from the posts above.

We could have just bought one domain instead of 600. Some reasons we went with 600: This mirrors our current dot com network of Hello"City".com. We have 600+ .com, one for each major city. i.e. HelloChicago.com, HelloMiami.com
We do this to have a truly local portal (domain) instead of something like www.CitySearch.com/IL/Chicago.html

By having a domain for each city also removes one layer of search. If you are on HelloBoston.mobi just do not have to drill down into the state and city before you search. Especially help for .mobi and navigating on a cell phone.

As far as content, all of our 350 US cities have the full Yellow Pages, White Pages, Users generated ratings of Restuarants, attractions and news feeds. The Foreign cities are coming up online this week with Resturants and Attractions. In the next 3 weeks we will be adding many more features similar to our .com portals.

Thank you again for talking about our new .mobi network. I would be glad to answer any other question.

Clark Scott
HelloMetro Inc.
Clark@HelloMetro.com
---------------------------------------------------------

We are currently promoting the sites through our existing .com network and the 2.2 million monthly visitors. We also started a Google Adwords campaign. They have Ads now that show up just on their mobile network.

My developers are adding code to our .coms in the coming weeks that will send people from the .com to the .mobi version if they are using a phone. I wanted to make sure we got it right so we did not screw up our .com sites. They are some issues where this re-direct code does not always work for all phones. It depends on the phone/carrier.

Thank you,
Clark
-----------------------------------------------------------

Hello,
Thanks for the suggestions Michael. All the features you mentioned is on our .com versions. We will continue to move more features to the .mobi versions. The only thing we do not do is allow customization of the look on the individual city guides. We have content people and user generated sections to make the content specific to that city. The look and navigation must remain the same so when you visit HelloBoston.com and then HelloSeattle.com you know how to move around the site and not have to re-learn from city to city.

Some things we will be adding to the .mobis in the next couple of week are:
1. sending text messages from the .mobi site (of YP and WP listings) to your phone or someone else's.
2. Movie Showtimes
3. state Lotto numbers
4. Download free art and music from local artist to makes Screen savers and Ringtones.
5.Weather Radar
6. Events by city

But I guess the main thing you guys are interested in, is whether the .mobi domains will takehold? I have been doing this for 6 years, built Internet companies and sold Internet companies. I believe the anser is Yes. The momentum from the large players have started.

Clark
HelloMetro Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------

I guess the next logical question would be:

Clark,

Is it okay to use the hottest, latest, newest, prettiest, slickest, Apple iPhone on the HelloMetro network or will it be blocked by Jobs and Sons?

Thanks!

Above all remember this:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1041/...530f629b_t.jpg
www.sdca.mobi

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1047/...2350e620_t.jpg
www.En-Route.mobi

iPhone Friendly

[PVFARKAS]

ok, fresh perspective? let's all take a step back. listen to my girlfriend!!!!!

last night the iphone commercial comes on. blah blah blah, this is your music, blah blah blah, this is your internet, blah blah blah, zoom in here, blah blah blah, watered-down there. now listen. I turn to my girlfriend and say did you hear that? she was oblivious, I repeated watered-down taunt, she didn't care much. I muttered something about .mobi. she said, "yeah, you've been working hard on that..what is it?" I said come here, she said tell me, I'll pull it up on my blackberry. she pulled it up and quickly said, "that's mobi, that's it, it fits so well, it's so easy, wow." (something to that effect, exact words I can't recall). She then quickly said that iphones are going to be buig-laden (recalling her dad who got a new bmw 7-series when it first came out I'm sure) and not every one is going to have one. I retorted 1-5% in robotic fashion and was happy about the conversation. what's the moral of the story?

she knew nothing of .mobi, saw it and immediately found its splendor, It may not do x or bring y or even an aesthetically pleasing dd, but it brings certain key things to the masses. Once its marketed it will explode. I marketed it in my apartment and in 5 seconds she loved it.

[Gerry]

...she loved it.

It's all about the love.