.Mobi Could Spur Wireless Web

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Microsoft, Google, Vodafone, Nokia and several other companies are backing .mobi, a new top-level domain aimed at making it easier to browse the Web on mobile devices, such as cellphones and PDAs, the Wall Street Journal reports. On Monday, Mobile Top Level Domain opened registration. 'In a matter of hours, thousands of websites were signed up, including Yahoo.mobi and Hotjobs.mobi. For now, registration for dot-mobi Web sites is open only to members of wireless industry trade associations, which include wireless carriers, handset manufacturers and media companies, including Yahoo Inc., that want to make money from providing content to the wireless Web.' Registrants have to follow certain rules to get the domain, including that sites cannot 'cause pop-ups or other windows to appear.'"

Comments

Least clutter of all...

[Kadin2048]

I've got an even better one for you, it's called "about:blank". Then just use the little searchy-box thingy in the upper right-hand corner of your browser. You can even configure said searchy-box so that it uses your choice of engine.

That's assuming of course that you're using a browser that doesn't suck.

Re:Neat!

[MS-06FZ]

For starters, they'll likely look at your web browser ID string and boot you to the normal site if it's IE, Mozilla, Netscape, Opera, etc., to "enhance" your browsing experience. Sure, if you know what you're doing, you can easily spoof that - but for most people it won't be worth the hassle.

Another thing they may do in some cases is provide a whole different site for mobile users. One example that comes to mind was a site for a company that makes PalmOS software (I don't remember which) - if you visit that site on a Treo's web browser, you'll get a version of the site that just lists their products and lets you buy/download binaries. On the desktop site you can get better information - things like full [i]descriptions[/i] of the products, and so on.