DISQUS

DISQUS Hello! Mobile Industry Review is using DISQUS, a powerful comment system, to manage its comments. Learn more.

Community Page

Mobile Industry Review

Daily news and opinion for 250,000 industry executives and mobile fanatics
Jump to original thread »
Author

Jonathan Jensen on Thursday – .tel, the first live global directory service

Started by Ewan · 8 months ago

.tel is a new top level domain from Telnic that is currently in beta. What makes .tel unique is that it maps domains to contact information stored directly in the DNS. Telnic, the .tel registry operator, describes it:

The .tel is a new TLD dedicated exclusively to communications that e ... Continue reading »

6 comments

  • I still don't get it.

    I can set up a page like that - see http://shkspr.mobi/about.php - which has a secret URL / password to show different contact information to each person. Or, even better, you can connect to me at http://zyb.com/terenceeden and instantly know when I change my details.

    Why should I pay .tel for yet another domain when I could make tel.example.com or example.com/tel ?

    And what happens when my neighbour - who is also called Jonathan Jensen - wants a .tel? He either needs a hotmail-esque jon-jensen-1944.tel or chain multiple subdomains - j.onanthan.jen.sen.tel.

    I think the basic idea of a unified contact manager - like zyb.com* - is a good idea. I just don't see why it needs to be attached to a (paid-for) domain.

    T
    *Owned by my corporate overlord, Vodafone.
  • The point here is that .tel is independent of any other service or hosting arrangement. Have a look at http://www.telnic.org/ as there's a lot more detail than I could cover. And yes, if you're technically proficient, there's lots of clever stuff you could do but .tel creates a consistent, simple standard.
  • I'm obviously missing something.

    It's all hosted at telnic. So if they get hit by a DDoS or hacked - everyone's contact details are vulnerable. If they go out of business - the same.

    I could write a scrap of PHP or ASP which anyone could host on their website - where does their business model go? A _facebook_ app could provide the same functionality.

    Don't get me wrong - that it updates via DNS is a nice idea. But given the time it takes for DNS updates to propagate around the world, what's the advantage compared to just sticking the details up on your site?

    Ultimately - what, in a dozen words, makes this better than me sticking a VCARD or hCard on my website?

    T
    (Not having a go - just genuinely confuzzeled)
  • Just come across this video of a presentation about .tel

    http://rikkles.blogspot.com/2008/09/demo-confer...
  • I signed up to their trial and have to say I am impressed http://rickychotai.vip.tel/ is my page
  • i have read somewhere that .tel Domain Aims to be 'Phonebook for the Net & that The owners of .tel domains will not be able to upload and maintain web pages, as they can for other top-level domains. they will only be able to store contact details like names, telephone numbers, web and email addresses is that true?

Add New Comment

Returning? Login