In just a few short weeks, we will all have a new domain extension to be excited about: .me. On July 17th, 2008, .me domains will go on sale to be registered by the general public. They were available as early as May 1st for registered trademarks of Montenegro, the owner of this top-level domain.

Country code

Montenegro became independent from Serbia only 2 years ago on June 3rd, 2006. Its telephone country code is a boring +382, but its internet country code is most likely the next big thing in the domain name business.

The future

I’m willing to bet that .me will be much more popular than .biz, .mobi or even .tv (if not all those combined). None of those really took off, but .me possibilities are much greater.

On January, 2008, GoDaddy was named one of operators of the .me domains (it currently operates .info and .org).

Imagine the possibilities. After all, .ME translates to a wide range of catchy words throughout the world – including the obvious English translations, such as “about me.” Others include “amar.me,” which means “love me” in Spanish, and “secondo.me,” which is Italian for “in my opinion.”

Cost and registration

Currently, the domain is in “Landrush” period where you can submit domains that you’re interested in. If there are no other interested parties, you will be awarded the domain name. If there are, the domain enters a bidding war. Landrush ends June 26th, 2008 (register here).

As mentioned above, on July 17th, anyone will be able to register the domains on first come, first serve basis. They’re $49.99/year with 2 years minimum which reminds me of the good ol’ .com days.

Notables

Apple is registering apple.me, ipod.me, and itunes.me. (via Macworld)

Will you be grabbing one?