Apple's App Store gets a mobile contacts management application

By Jacqueline Emigh | Published January 13, 2009, 5:53 PM

Apple's App Store has added an iPhone application for managing mobile-optimized contact information slated to be provided in conjunction with .tel domain names.

New to the App Store since last week, the iPhone client software is one of several similar applications from Telnic Limited, the registry operator for .tel, an emerging domain directory service for lightweight contact information that looks likely to see widespread use.

Within the first minute of .tel's sunrise period in December, applications for .tel domain names came in from Google, Apple, Microsoft, News Corporation, Amex, FedEx, Sony, Vodafone, Johnson & Johnson, and a long list of other trademark holders, according to Justin Hayward, communications director for Telnic Limited, the registry operator for the emerging directory service.

The other client applications under development by Telnic run on Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Outlook, and Kiax Softphone, Hayward said, speaking with Betanews at CES 2009 in Las Vegas.

The iPhone application is now in version 1.1, whereas the client for Kiax Softphone -- an open source VoIP platform -- is in version 2.1.

In order to make a phone call using the Softphone client, you'll type in the URL for a supported .tel domain, according to Hayward. Currently available in English only, but with plans by Telnic for multilingual support, the application for Kiax runs on Windows, Linux, and x86-based Mac OS X.

The client software for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Outlook is still in version 1.0 as pre-release beta software. Telnic also provides Java-based TelHosting software for service providers. All of Telnic's software is available for free download from the organization's Web site.

Hayward added that, since December, .tel domain registration applications have been received by thousands of other trademark holders, including Accenture, Ferrari, Versace, Charles Schwab, Air China, the Texas Rangers, and National Car Rental, to name a few.

The "landrush" period -- in which consumers will be able to apply to Telnic for their own .tel domain names -- is set to start on February 3.