dotMobi Internet Address Puts Drivers in Control

August 30, 2007; 02:03 AM

DUBLIN, Ireland and WASHINGTON, DC – Automobile enthusiasts can now easily find car information in their favorite place – on the road – using their mobile phones to access sites on the .mobi internet domain, the only internet address name designed specifically for mobile devices like the Nokia N95 and the Apple iPhone.

dotMobi, the official registry for the .mobi domain, is helping leading automotive brands bring themselves online for "anywhere, anytime" access to the nearest driving destination, lowest car prices or race track details, directly from the driver's seat.

The .mobi domain eliminates the need for downloading data-heavy, cost-intensive PC web content and instead offers drivers, and other mobile users, content that is quickly and easily accessed on a mobile phone and is relevant to a mobile user.

The sites of a number of pioneering automotive companies are utilizing the .mobi domain to pave the way toward building the mobile automotive industry: 

• Buying and comparing: BMW.mobi and FordCA.mobi allow users to browse through the car manufacturers’ entire catalog of automobiles.
• If you get lost on the road, the American Automobile Association can help you with driving directions from their AAA.mobi site. In the UK, roadreport.mobi can help you make sure you're traveling the best route possible by knowing ahead of time which roads are suffering from traffic problems.
• Race Fans: Ferrari.mobi enables followers to find the latest news on what’s happening with Team Ferrari. Users can access the team’s car specs, the Grand Prix calendar and downloadable multimedia.
• Investments: RollsRoyce.mobi provides investors full access to the company’s information. Using an internet-enabled mobile phone, customers can find current share prices, event calendars and financial highlights.
• And you're worn out from driving, you can always access Taxicab.mobi to help you find a local cab service in the US, Canada and the UK.

Phil Barrett, Senior Director, Mobile & Interactive at Carlson Marketing, led the implementation of the FordCA.mobi site. Barrett said, "The .mobi address and Ford Canada are a strong match. Ford symbolizes a go-forward, go-mobile spirit, and .mobi is a perfect parallel for that. Ford Canada's customers now have an easy way to access Ford information no matter where they are. The .mobi name was a simple choice for Ford. Unlike a site.com/mobile or m.site.com name, the standards behind the .mobi domain guarantee that a site will work on a mobile phone."

Neil Edwards, CEO of dotMobi, said, “The speed at which detailed information can be found on well-designed mobile sites is essential to a user looking for information. dotMobi has made a commitment to provide all users, regardless of the type of mobile phone they have, with a high-quality mobile Internet experience. These automotive sites demonstrate how companies can successfully provide mobile content that's tailored to the specific needs of mobile users.” 

For more information on .mobi domains and how to register .mobi domains, visit http://dotmobi.mobi. Visit the dotMobi blog at http://blog.mobi.

About dotMobi

dotMobi (the informal name of mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.), a consortium based in Dublin, Ireland with offices in Washington, DC and Beijing, is leading the growth of Internet use 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 on their mobile phones when using a .mobi address.

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