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Using numbers instead of website names to access the Internet on mobile
phones has won international recognition.
It also means the hi-tech start-up could be sitting on a goldmine if
the global mobile commerce market skyrockets in coming
years.
Director Graham Saywell said using numeric dotcom addresses to access
the web on mobile phones was twice as fast as entering
word-based addresses on the handset.
"Navigating the web by numbers may not be rocket science, but it
will vastly simplify a process which can be tedious
for mobile phone users," he said.
Hong Kong-based technology magazine Wireless Asia agrees. It said Domain
Numbers offered one of the best potential wireless web
applications in Asia Pacific, placing it runner-up in
its inaugural mobile applications awards.
Admitting the awards were based 90% on "good gut feeling" about
the prospects of award applicants, the single-employee
Kiwi company was beaten only by Smartone, a Hong Kong
cellular carrier with 1300 employees and $HK3.5 billion
in funds.
The judges said Domain Numbers had addressed the core issue on mobile
internet - user friendliness.
"It is amazing to remember the URL (web address) system was developed
to avoid remembering numbered addresses, but (Domain
Numbers) propose to close the loop and bring us back
to numbers," they said.
Domain Numbers has also attracted attention from Internet World, published
in New York, and Nordic Wireless Watch in Finland.
Mobile internet-enabled phones are predicted to flood global markets
within three years.
The mobile commerce market, estimated at $US600 million last year, is
predicted to grow to $US200 billion by 2004.
But Saywell said one of the big drawbacks about using the mobile internet
was having to enter lengthy word web addresses on the
small telephone pads.
Saywell cites the example of spelling the word "news" on a
keypad. Users have to hit the 6 button twice for "n",
the 3 button twice for "e", the 9 button once
for "w" and the 7 button four times for "s"
to select the correct characters - nine key strokes
for a four-letter word.
Under Domain Numbers' system, users spelling "news" will have
to hit each buttons once.
And with a .com suffix, that will take them quickly into a portal of
news service web addresses.
Saywell said it was a concept people would easily adapt to. "People
are used to 0800 word numbers, and our technology stands
that process on its head to register words as numbers,"
he said.
Domain Numbers began life in July 1999 when Saywell, his brother Barry
and third director and angel investor Dean Kilworth
began registering numeric dotcom addresses.
Since then the company has registered nearly 1000 numeric dotcom domain
names, which include words like news, weather, shares
and taxi.
Even before they started, Sony Music had registered the numeric address
for music.
Then in July last year internet search engine Google established its
own number search, which allowed phone users to enter
search queries using numbers. But Saywell said of the
1150 key generic words he had identified, Domain Numbers
owned around 70%.
They have spent around $500,000 and are seeking joint venture partners
to develop the business globally.
"Our business model assumes access to a new wireless internet over
mobile phones will become routine over the next five
years," he said.
There were 600 million mobile phones in use, but new stock would inevitably
be internet capable. This represented huge potential
for Domain Numbers.
Number names owned by the company would be licensed to wireless carriers
and companies could be charged for inclusion in portals
as traffic increased.
Local businesses could also be charged to have their websites linked
to a portal.
By GARRY SHEERAN - 18 November 2001
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