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Gerry
08-24-2007, 10:48 AM
I remember on the other site (NombrePathetic) that there was quite a spat about how the iPhone was the final nail in the coffin of .mobi as it had the default key of .com.

Remember that? Sure you do.

Well, here's an interesting article that will put the final nail in the coffin of that lame assumption:

Apple iPhone Promoting .com TLD? (http://www.circleid.com/posts/apple_iphone_buttons_com_domain/)

One of the key features of the soon-to-launch iPhone is its advanced web browser capabilities. The Wall Street Journal’s recent test report of the product describes the browser as such:
“The iPhone is the first smart phone we’ve tested with a real, computer-grade Web browser, a version of Apple’s Safari. It displays entire Web pages, in their real layouts, and allows you to zoom in quickly by either tapping or pinching with your finger. Multiple pages can be open at the same time, and you can conduct Google or Yahoo searches from a built-in search box.”
To make the user’s browsing experience even more efficient, the phone even comes with a top-level domain (TLD) button labeled “.com”. Rather interesting given that today there are over two hundred TLDs in existence including .mobi (http://pc.mtld.mobi/). Patrick Vande Walle posted the following observation on his blog (http://patrick.vande-walle.eu/internet/icann/apple-iphone/) today:
“There are already 267 TLDs in the root. So, it is a little strange than the upcoming iPhone will have a special “.com” key to be used to type URLs. Why on earth did Apple decide to favour .com? How much has this cost to VeriSign? ...If Apple wants to sell the phone outside the US it will have to adapt to local customs.”
Luckily, this is only a virtual button as the iPhone does not have any physical buttons on its front. So the question will be whether Apple provides—or plans to provide—a TLD button customization feature in the iPhone’s software?
-------------------------------------

Well, guess what?


Apple signs iPhone deals in Europe
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=59636

23 August 2007 12:58PM
Apple has signed up three operators for the iPhone in Europe, according to reports in the Financial Times.

Apple has signed up three operators for the iPhone in Europe, according to reports in the Financial Times.

T-Mobile is reported to have received the German contract, O2 the UK contract and Orange the French contract.

Apple has promised to start shipping the iPhone in Europe by the end of this year.

The exclusive right to sell the iPhone comes at a hefty price. The operators will have to pass 10 per cent of the iPhone subscription fees on to Apple.

The deals are expected to be officially unveiled at the IFA trade show in Berlin at the end of this month.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company as a rule does not comment on products that have yet to be released.

The iconic status of the iPhone has enabled Apple to set unusual terms for operators. AT&T, which operates the device in the US, has reportedly signed a revenue sharing agreement as well.

As previously reported, operators in Europe have complained about Apple's "arrogance" and were forced out of the bidding process by the firm's demands.

Operators that sign up to the iPhone, however, can expect a healthy boost in image and market share.

AT&T signed up 146,000 subscribers in the first two days after the iPhone started shipping, although the operator has not disclosed what percentage of those switched providers.

Javier Marti
08-24-2007, 04:50 PM
""So the question will be whether Apple provides—or plans to provide—a TLD button customization feature in the iPhone’s software?""

Yes. They will. Doing otherwise would be business suicide in Europe. Think about .es, .de, .co.uk...they're strong enough to be taken into consideration. Bearing in mind that it is a "virtual button", reconfiguring it should be easy

Gerry
08-24-2007, 05:20 PM
""So the question will be whether Apple provides—or plans to provide—a TLD button customization feature in the iPhone’s software?""

Yes. They will. Doing otherwise would be business suicide in Europe. Think about .es, .de, .co.uk...they're strong enough to be taken into consideration. Bearing in mind that it is a "virtual button", reconfiguring it should be easy
I would tend to agree. Even the author is saying .com is not king of the domain world everywhere.

To many domainers it is in the "virtual world" sense, but to the real world and internet usage and applications, it is eroding and losing ground to other extensions.

I think it will be interesting to see the marketing strategy not only of Apple but also with the telecommunication carriers. Being that some are global and that many european languages are spoken by so many multi-lingual people, this needs to be carefully plotted and thought out.

Perhaps the best way is to "loose the default URL key". After all, who is going to determine what ccTLD's to include? Worse yet, who is going to determine which extensions NOT to include?

If they say ok to .co.uk, .de, .fr, .es but say no to .it, .at, .nl...how many sales can they expect to gain in those countries.

NO default key would be the ideal solution. And the simple solution.

Even my Helio Ocean uses .com as the default. When I click on SURF, the htpp://www is already populated. As soon as I hit one key, the .com is automatically entered.

To eliminate this, all I have to do is hit delete, delete, delete to remove the www and go from there. No problems.

Does anyone know how this is handled on the iPhone with the default being .com but you want to go somewhere else?

coast
08-24-2007, 07:15 PM
Why not make .mobi the default?

:bingo:

Now to dodge the :tomato:

Gerry
08-24-2007, 08:12 PM
Why not make .mobi the default?

:bingo:

Now to dodge the :tomato: :laugh:
You know we're with you on that one, but lordy lordy, what flame wars that little comment will start elsewhere! http://forums.torrentspy.com/images/smilies/5822013558.gif

coast
08-24-2007, 10:03 PM
:laugh:
You know we're with you on that one, but lordy lordy, what flame wars that little comment will start elsewhere! http://forums.torrentspy.com/images/smilies/5822013558.gif

That's why I only posted it here -- oops, this isn't the lounge...:laugh:

Scandiman
08-25-2007, 04:01 AM
Why not make .mobi the default?
I'm sure some kid will figure out how to hack the iPhone to make this happen or at least make it easy for users to change.