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London, United Kingdom - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - May 22, 2006 - Web hosting company, Hostway Corp., advises companies that the industry sunrise period for the new .mobi has arrived. Industry members may register for .mobi domain names and general trademark holders will be able to register from June 12.

The new domain name is different from any other because the web pages must be certified suitable for mobile browsing before going live. Neil Barton, Director of Hostway explained, ”Companies should register for the .mobi domain name of their choice as soon as possible in order to capitalise on the opportunities that it presents. Every new domain name represents an extension of the Internet, and .mobi most significantly so - it represents the official recognition of using mobile devices to access the Internet. Demand for this domain name will grow as mobile devices such as phones and PDAs become more Internet-friendly and as mobile websites improve, so it is essential that companies with trademarks get in there fast.”

The domain name is being backed by many of the largest names in the industry, including Google, Nokia and Microsoft, and represents an important opportunity for companies with services which can be accessed on the move. Many users struggle to access the Internet on their phone or PDA at the moment, and the .mobi domain name promises to make pages more streamlined, quicker to load, easier to navigate, and suitable for smaller displays.

Today there are more phones than any other Internet enabled device, and many people are now using their phones to download music, check email and access mobile services, but most stay with the pages created by their provider. With .mobi, users will know that any web page with a .mobi extension will be suitable for access on their phone.

Mr. Barton continued, ”This domain name is going to be exceptionally important. Everyone has a mobile phone these days, but few people find mobile Internet access reliable, consistent or in many cases even moderately usable. Companies need to make sure that they pin down the .mobi domain name of their choice if they represent a brand which has a service that can be accessed from a mobile device. .mobi represents the opportunity for consumers to have a better online experience on their phones via a community of sites which are guaranteed to work on the small screen.”

mtld, the body administrating the new domain name has published what they are calling ’style guides’ that ensure sites are presented in as mobile-friendly a fashion as possible. There are three main technical requirements that company websites must pass before they are allowed to use the .mobi domain name: the website must be encoded in XHTML-MP (WAP 2.0) to ensure that the site can be read by mobile devices, it must be instituted at the second level, so that users do not need to type in www (i.e. Google would be simply google.mobi rather than www.google.mobi), and there should be no frames, which many mobile displays cannot cope with.

The new domain name is anticipated to solve the accessibility problems that currently plague users trying to access the Internet on mobile devices, ensuring that all pages load quickly and are suitable for small screens. Although not all websites will want or need a .mobi domain, there are many kinds of information which are useful to access on the move, such as news and weather, as well as cinema times, travel information and sightseeing guides.

Hostway is taking advantage of this enthusiasm by opening registration for .mobi immediately, allowing people to sign up for their specific domain name. The industry sunrise period, which opens on May 29th allows companies which are members of the GSMA, CTIA, CWTA, MMA, MEF or RCA to register for their domain name ahead of any other trademarked body. The sunrise period for conventional trademark holders is open from 12th June until 21st August, and the land rush opens on 28th August.

Hostway Corporation provides web hosting services with eight locations in the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, and Australia with managed hosting services, shared plans, and complete dedicated server and VPS solutions to over 350,000 customers worldwide.

To learn more about .mobi, please visit: www.hostway.co.uk/dotmobi.

For more information about Hostway, please visit www.hostway.com.

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