Ringtones.com sold for $750k

Elliots Blog reports that the doman name ringtones.com has been sold for $750,000. Dave Evanson from Sedo was the domain broker for this transaction.

Retweet.com Sells for $250,000

retweet.com, which put itself up for sale last month, has sold for $250,000 in an online auction on Flippa. The auction saw a fair amount of interest with 45 bids in total.

[via Mashable]

«.Tel» Them Where to Find You

A new domain name, «.tel», becomes available today, and it could become a phone book for the Internet, according to Bits.

A «.tel» domain name links to the contact information of businesses, organizations and individuals. Information can include telephone numbers; links to Web sites, including a Facebook or MySpace page; e-mail addresses; instant messaging names, and, if you wish, identities for virtual games such as Xbox Live or Second Life.

Because the data is stored in the DNS, rather than on a server, when a person updates a phone number or address using their .tel account, it is automatically updated in the address books of their friends who have their .tel information stored on a smartphone or other mobile device.

Ringtones.org sells for $ 120,000

Moniker announced details of the auction, which took bids in person and remotely through the SnapNames Live online auction platform,

Overall, 105 domains were sold as the auction brought in an average sale price over $24,000 during the four hour event.

RingTones.org sold for $120000.

[via WHIR]

IPhone.com has been acquired by Apple

According to Domain Tools Blog Michael Kovatch, who ought the iPhone.com domain name in 1995, has recently sold it to Apple for seven figures.

"Michael started an ISP in 1993 and was in the right place at the right time. He knew the Internet would allow telephone calls one day and that is why he registered IPhone.com. Little did he know the 12 years later the Internet would be one his cell phones and Apple would reveal a product with his name and all this would make him an instant Millionaire.

[via Engadget:Mobile]

Business.com domain name could fetch over $300 million

Wild! BUSINESS.COM IS ON the block and could fetch over $300 million. The firm's founders paid $7.5 million for its domain name in '99. The WSJ reports.

"Entrepreneurs Jake Winebaum and Sky Dayton were widely mocked for lavishing $7.5 million on a single Internet domain name -- business.com -- back in 1999. It was the single highest price paid for a domain name at the time.

Now look who is having the last laugh.

The company that grew out of business.com -- a search engine used by businesses to find products and services -- is now on the auction block, and could fetch anywhere between $300 million and $400 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Closely held business.com is expected to attract a host of interest from the likes of media companies such as Dow Jones & Co. and New York Times Co., these people said. Requests for comment from Business.com and the New York Times were not returned yesterday evening. Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, declined to comment.

... Business.com, Santa Monica, Calif., has 2007 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $15 million, the people familiar with the matter said, with its online traffic growing by 50% in the first quarter of 2007, compared with the year earlier.

The people familiar with the matter say that the final price for Business.com is hard to predict. But at $350 million, a deal would value the company at some 24 times cash flow. Credit Suisse is running the auction. "

LeapFish - What is your blog/URL worth?

Hey, this is really great! LeapFish has created an immediate rating system fordomain names. [via digg]

You can get an immediate and free domain name appraisal by simply entering your URL.

Here are the results for textually.org:

textually.org - It has been determined based on search results that this name may be extensively valuable beyond the scope of the LeapFish.com domain analysis tool. It is recommended that you seek the services of a complete domain appraisal company rather than rely on this estimate. Thank You.

You also have the option to request a domain name comparison. Textually yields 0 results, but for picturephoning, one domain comes up, homevideophone.com - sold for $250 on 12/13/2005.

ICANN approves «.TEL» TLD

According to a press release, ICANN has just unanimously approved the creation of the new «.Tel» Top Level Domain (TLD) and awarded the contract to Telnic Limited..

Over the coming weeks, Telnic will update the Telnic.org website with the launch timetable and provide information to our community.

Related article: - Internet agency considers «.tel» domain name

Internet agency considers '.tel' domain name

To help people manage all their contact information online, the Internet's key oversight agency is considering a ".tel" domain name. If approved, the domain could be available this year and run by Telnic Ltd., which proposed it, according to the Associated Press on CNN.

"As proposed, individuals could use a ".tel" Web site to provide the latest contact information and perhaps even let friends initiate a call or send a text message directly from the site. Businesses could use a ".tel" site to determine customers' locations and route them automatically to the correct call center.

... There's nothing inherent in ".tel" that would enable these features; rather, its aim is to create a place to which people would know to go to find contact information.

... The few who submitted comments to ICANN on ".tel" were skeptical.

Francisco Cabanas, owner of Canadian domain registration company FineE.com, said an organization like The Associated Press could simply create an address at "tel.ap.org," rather than require an "ap.tel."

Otherwise, who would get the ".tel" name? The AP? Internet service provider AccessPort, which uses "ap.net"? Or Audio Precision Inc., at "ap.com"? "It kind of magnifies the problem," Cabanas said. "If I'm looking for a phone number or an e-mail address or whatever and I'm getting a totally different (company), it defeats the purpose."

In recent years, ICANN has approved ".eu" for the European Union, ".jobs" for human-resources sites, ".travel" for the travel industry, ".mobi" targeting mobile services and ".cat" for the Catalan language, bringing the number of domains to 264.

SMS.co.uk sale fails to attract winning bid

The sale of the domain sms.co.uk has suffered a hiccup afterbidders failed to match the reserve price, reports The Register.

"When sms.co.uk was put up for auction last month those behind the sale were optimistic that it could net more than £100,000 ($174,000).

Related article: - Sms.co.uk domain sale could be a 'record breaker'

Sms.co.uk domain sale could be a 'record breaker'

The domain sms.co.uk is up for grabs and those behind the sale reckon it could net more than £100,000, according to The Register.

Those interested in the domain need to submit their sealed bids by November 4. The sale will take place the day after.

The domain has a reserve set at "six figures" but David Carter - director of one of the companies helping to flog the domain - sms.co.uk - reckons it could attract bids way higher still."

Hype! Remember PicturePhone.com, the domain name auction with a starting price at $ 1'000'000?

New .mobi suffix points to wireless Web sites

This doesn't really sound like news, since it's been in the headlines before, but today it's official, the new ".mobi" suffix was approved by ICANN at a Luxemburg meeting on Monday.

"Consumers will soon be able to recognize Web sites specially designed for use by mobile phones by the new ".mobi" suffix, which will be introduced alongside the popular ".com" and other top-level domain names.

The first Web sites for mobile devices, which will be fit for a small screen and limited memory and bandwidth, will be ready in 2006."

Related:

-- ICANN gives a preliminary nod «.mobi»

-- Father of the Web blasts .mobi domain - Tim Berners-Lee, has gone on record against the idea of a mobile-only TLD (top level domain).

The .mobi propsal in particular, Berners-Lee claims, is directly contrary to the design and purpose of the Internet. Firstly, it is intended for use only by selected companies, mobile carriers and content providers. That breaks the device independence that is, according to Berners-Lee, integral to the Internet.

-- Read also MocoNews where James Pearce has an interesting take on what's going on.

ICANN approves «.mobi»

The Internet's key oversight agency gave a preliminary nod Monday to new domain names targeting mobile services and the jobs market, reports the Associated Press.

"Sponsored by leading mobile phone and technology companies, including Nokia, Microsoft and T-Mobile, the «.mobi» domain would set apart Web sites and other services that are specially designed to work around the limitations of cell phones, including their smaller screen size and data capacity.

Microsoft.mobi," for instance, might carry smaller photos or fewer graphics than the main site at Microsoft.com.

The «.jobs» suffix, meanwhile, would go to members of the human resources community.

Related article:

-- Father of the Web blasts .mobi domain - Tim Berners-Lee, has gone on record against the idea of a mobile-only TLD (top level domain).

The .mobi propsal in particular, Berners-Lee claims, is directly contrary to the design and purpose of the Internet. Firstly, it is intended for use only by selected companies, mobile carriers and content providers. That breaks the device independence that is, according to Berners-Lee, integral to the Internet.

-- Read also MocoNews where James Pearce has an interesting take on what's going on.

The 100 Oldest Currently Registered .COM Domains

Not related to cell phones - though there are some telecom companies here - just interesting to anyone who follows domain names: "The 100 Oldest Currently Registered .COM Domains" via eyebeam reBlog via Régine.

Keeping the Web universal

If two words could characterize the World Wide Web, they would be "openness" and "standards." Fifteen years after Tim Berners-Lee first proposed the Web and worked to propagate it from a research lab in Geneva, he still has a passion for those founding ideals.

Today, he is worried that the mobile phone may be eroding those standards, reports the IHT.

"In Finland this week to receive the Millennium Technology Award, Berners-Lee said the reluctance of developers to make Web pages for mobile phones adhere to the same principles as those for computers was chipping away at what he had worked for."

Berners-Lee doesn't want to divide the Web into sites for some devices and not for others. He argues that most top-level domain names, like .com, .mobi and the others, create different "webs" for different people, counter to the ideas of decentralization and openness at the heart of his creation."

SMS Related Domain Names

Textually'sweekly listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public again.

- clicsms.com
- diversionsms.com
- free-sms-message.com
- gsm2sms.com
- sms-jpn.com
- sms-on-web.com
- sms2music.com
- smscreditcard.com
- smsdiversion.com
- smsicon.com
- smsicons.com

The above names are available for registration now if anyone is interested. Source of information: Netcollateral.com.

Father of the Web blasts .mobi domain

Tim Berners-Lee, has gone on record against the idea of a mobile-only TLD (top level domain). In a statement submitted to and endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) on 14 May, Berners-Lee denounced the proliferation of new TLDs, and of the proposed .mobi domain in particular. [InfoSync World]

Excerpts:

The .mobi propsal in particular, Berners-Lee claims, is directly contrary to the design and purpose of the Internet. Firstly, it is intended for use only by selected companies, mobile carriers and content providers. That breaks the device independence that is, according to Berners-Lee, integral to the Internet. "The Web must operate independently of the hardware, software or network used to access it, of the perceived quality or appropriateness of the information on it, and of the culture, and language, and physical capabilities of those who access it." Additionally, while currently "mobile" typically imples "small, intermittent connectivity, limited UI and bandwidth" there is no reason to believe that such a differentiation will persist for very long.

Too, Berners-Lee argues, "It is fundamentally useful to be able to quote the URI for some information and then look up that URI [Uniform Resource Identifier, the general case of a URL] in an entirely different context." Tying a .mobi domain to mobile devices breaks that portability.

SMS Related Domain Names

Textually's new weekly listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public again.

- gsm2sms.com
- maschine-sms.com
- megafon-sms.com
- mistersms.com
- mysmsblog.com
- sms-animados.com
- sms-backbone.com
- sms-products.com
- sms-screen.com
- syriansms.com
- tipper-sms.com
- wait4sms.com
- wait4sms.com
- sms-dorf.net
- sms-info.net
- smsapplications.net
- smsbuzz.net
- smspromotion.net
- smstracker.net
- world-sms.net

The above names are available for registration now if anyone is interested. Source of information: Netcollateral.com.

Special Offer. WirelessPhone.org is for sale. You can purchase it for just US $ 100 from www.100DollarDomains.com. Email: kalyan@MarketingMadeEasy.com.

SMS Related Domain Names

Textually's new weekly listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public again.

- contactbysms.com
- net-2-sms.com
- sms-flirts.com
- smscheap.com
- smsfungame.com
- smsvalley.com
- sms-me.net
- smsticker.net
- mobiletextmessenger.com
- mobiletextmessengers.com
- playbytext.com
- txtmehere.com

The above names are available for registration now if anyone is interested. Source of information: Netcollateral.com.

Special Offer. WirelessPhone.org is for sale. You can purchase it for just US $ 100 from www.100DollarDomains.com. Email: kalyan@MarketingMadeEasy.com.

SMS Related Domain Names

Textually's new weekly listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public again.

- 160sms.com
- broadcast-sms.com
- itvsms.com
- naughtysms.com
- playbysms.com
- sms-centre.com
- sms-publisher.com
- sms-texto.com
- smsandyou.com
- smsblagues.com
- smsrace.com
- cellulartextmessage.com
- cellulartextmsg.com
- wirelesstextmsg.com

The above names are available for registration now if anyone is interested. Source of information: Netcollateral.com.

SMS Related Domain Names

Following Ringtonia's weekly listing of ringtone related domain names, here's a listing of SMS related domain names that have come up for sale and are available to the public again.

- beijing-sms.com
- dax-sms.com
- dialersms.com
- dropsms.com
- eezysms.com
- majorsms.com
- mega-sms.com
- sms4friends.com
- smscameraphone.com
- smsvietnam.com
- smswaralerts.com
- smswave.com
- beijing-sms.net
- sms-france.net
- sms-erotik.org
- smserotik.org
- soccersms.org

The above names are available for registration now if anyone is interested. Source of information: Netcollateral.com.

.mobile domain on the way?

Simon Perry, who has been following the Mobile TLD (or M-TLD) proposals closely, has raised some interesting issues:

"It appears that the idea is to limit the people who can get a .mobile name, and by doing this, they hope to ensure that, at the very least, the content is formatted for mobile devices and the service has a level of QoS (Quality of Service).

If this will turn out to be a mobile walled garden, a mini-internet, only for mobile devices is not clear. Will .mobile domain only be available for use BY mobile devices, or are people to put their mobile-friendly content on .mobile domains?

Forcing publishers to create a whole separate sites to operate under a .mobile domain appears a very expensive route".

cf related entry posted yesterday.

Businesses push for mobile top-level domain

This is wild! InfoSync World reports that a consortium of companies including Microsoft, Nokia, Vodafone, 3, GSM Association, HP, Orange, Samsung Sun Microsystems are applying for a TLD (Top Level Domain Name - such as .com - specifically for mobile customers.

"A mobile TLD on the Internet creates the opportunity to streamline the deployment of new Internet sites optimized for mobile usage.

The group said in a joint statement Wednesday that it will apply for the TLD from ICANN and file its submission by the March 16 deadline for the current application round, according to Mobile Pipeline, my new bookmark.

I think I found the consortium's mobile TLD application form. See also Nokia's application page.

The proposals:

.mobile
No explanation needed.

.mobi
to emphasize the fact that the TLD will be optimized for mobile devices and services.

.now
to emphasize the instant access to mobile devices and services.

.own
to emphasize the personal nature of the Mobile Internet.

.mas
to emphasize the availability of more mobile applications and services.

.max
to emphasize the mobile access and maximal benefits for the mobile Internet users.

.mid
to emphasize mobile identity and mobile identification.

.mis
to emphasize the importance of the TLD as an enabler of Mobile Information Society.

My vote goes to .mobile. If anyone is curious, .mo is already taken, it's the country code for Macau.