Cerkle Chooses .mobi as the Parent Domain to Take Its Services Mobile

February 9, 2007; 02:59 AM

dotMobi, the company behind the first and only Internet address designed specifically for mobile phones, announced that Roundpoint has chosen .mobi as the mobile parent domain for Cerkle. A sophisticated social networking application, Cerkle brings together friends and colleagues, enabling them to share news and information securely within their network.

"We chose the .mobi domain because it offers higher standards to Cerkle members when they choose mobile access to their 'Cerkles' - their social network circles" said Trevor Shonfeld, Roundpoint CEO. Roundpoint collaborated with the GSM Association, the global trade association of mobile operators, to launch Cerkle. "The ubiquity of mobile access, and its international reach, demanded a simple domain for our members - .mobi best delivers and underpins Cerkle's quality to our users on a global basis," added Shonfeld.

Cerkle users set up their hubs for the free service from their Macintosh or PC at http://www.cerkle.com/. Members then access their Cerkles at a dotcom address from PCs or from the corresponding .mobi address from their mobiles.

The GSM Association's Chief Marketing Officer, Bill Gajda, said, "Cerkle opens up social networking to users regardless of how they choose to access their network, whether that be via the fixed Internet or a mobile phone using either Web or SMS text messaging. The .mobi domain is the best choice for this secure service, which will be offered to our operator members and available to Cerkle members globally."

Neil Edwards, CEO of dotMobi, believes the use of the .mobi domain by Cerkle is a validation of the need for a quality domain by a quality service: "Cerkle sets new standards for delivering safe and secure social networking. The .mobi domain was established to offer mobile internet users a domain they can trust, one that guarantees 'this site works on my mobile.' For Cerkle to offer its members a .mobi address shows how the domain supports services operating at high standards."

Visitors to the 3GSM World Congress can visit the Cerkle stand in Hall 7 to enjoy a fast "build-and-go" experience and set up their own Cerkle with an instant, free .mobi subdomain registration. They can register for a personal .mobi domain at either the Cerkle or dotMobi stands (Hall 7, Stand 7B62), where Cerkle will also be available for visitors to try. Cerkle builders at the show will be entered into the prize draw for a MiniCooper to be given away by dotMobi at the show.

Trevor Shonfeld, Roundpoint CEO, and Lettice David (age 13) will be presenting Cerkle at the Mobile Innovation Forum in the main hall on Monday, 12 February, at 3:50 p.m., Barcelona time.

About dotMobi

dotMobi (the informal name of mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.), a joint venture company based in Dublin, Ireland with offices in Washington, DC and Beijing, is leading the development of Internet usage from mobile phones with the .mobi domain name. Unique among domain name providers, dotMobi ensures that services and sites developed around .mobi are optimized for use by mobile devices. On-the-go consumers can have confidence that an Internet site or service will work from their mobile device when using the .mobi address.

dotMobi is backed by leading mobile operators, network and device manufacturers, and Internet content providers, including Ericsson, GSM Association, Hutchison 3, Microsoft, Nokia, Orascom Telecom, Samsung Electronics, Syniverse, T-Mobile, Telefonica Moviles, TIM and Vodafone. dotMobi is also a sponsor of W3C's Mobile Web Initiative.

For more information on dotMobi domains and registration information, visit http://mtld.mobi/. Visit the dotMobi blog at http://blog.mobi/.

For more information, please contact: Vance Hedderel, dotMobi (mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.), +1-703-485-5563, [email protected] Danielle Siemon, A&R Edelman for dotMobi, +1-650-762-2947, [email protected]