The ICM Registry has revealed that it has had 900,000 interested parties contact them about the use of the XXX web suffix – which is to be a regulated section of the internet intended for pornography.

The registry has noted that a number of those looking to sign up to the service were companies that did not want to be associated with adult material but wanted to grab their domains so that cyber-squatters wouldn't start posting nudie pics under their moniker.

Because of this, it is offering something called a 'sunrise period' so companies can get their act together.

A bit of the in-out

"We are advising businesses to either opt-in or opt-out and want to give them the best opportunity to do so at the launch of our new [top-level domain]," said Stuart Lawley, chief executive of ICM Registry.

"While we believe the .XXX will satisfy the needs of the sponsored community, we recognise there is also an audience who would like to opt-out and safeguard their IP prior to the domain going live."

Those companies that want to register their XXX URLs will have to pay $200 to $300 for the privilege.

On paper, the launch of the newly-branded Sky Go service looked rather straight forward.

Step one: rebrand Sky Player with Sky Go logos. Step two: replace the Sky Mobile TV iOS apps with the new Sky Go apps. Easy.

However, what actually happened is that with the Sky Go marketing campaign in full swing, the new service went live without any sign of the Sky Go app for iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

This predictably incurred the wrath of many existing Sky subscribers who were eager to try out this new 'free' service they'd been promised. The apps did briefly go live on the App Store but were immediately pulled down again after 'bugs' were found. Discontented subscribers raged on the Sky forums as blameless Sky support staff attempted to douse the flames.

So here we are, several weeks later, and the Sky Go iOS apps are finally up and running. So what's the shizzle?

First look

Sky Go is available to every single one of Sky's 68 squillion subscribers in the UK at no extra cost (or 'free' as Sky likes to call it), though you'll only get access to the channels that you already pay for.

You can access the service from any PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Xbox 360 (Gold subscribers only, and the service is called just 'Sky'). There are caveats to this, though, in that you can only register two devices per account (down from Sky Player's four). The pay-off with this is that you can watch on both these devices at the same time, which wasn't possible with Sky Player.

Sky Player veterans will be pleased to hear that the management of registered devices has been improved in Sky Go, too. You're given a simple graphic where you can select which of your devices to authorise. There currently doesn't appear to be any restrictions on how many times you can swap these registered devices around, though Sky says this is subject to 'fair use'.

You can only manage these devices from a web browser though - you can't do it from within the iOS app itself.

Just like Sky Player

Sky Go has not exactly undergone a major facelift since the days of Sky Player. When accessed from a home computer, the service is essentially the same. It looks the same, it feels the same and it works the same way.

It uses Silverlight rather than Flash and allows you to stream a selected range of channels including: All five Sky Sports channels, Sky One, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic, GOLD, MTV, Sky Arts 1, Sky Movies Premiere, Sky Movies Showcase, Sky Movies Action, Sky Movies Family, Eurosport 1 & 2, ESPN, ESPN Classic, Sky News, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, History, Eden, Crime, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Nickleodeon, Disney XD, Disney Channel and Nick Jr.

You can browse channels using the slightly clunky in-browser EPG, or simply flick up and down between channels mid-stream in the same way you would if you were watching normal Sky TV.

iOS app

There is a Sky Go Android app in the works, but for the time being Sky subscribers will be limited to iOS devices for their mobile entertainment. The iPad and iPhone app can be downloaded for free from the App store, but offers fewer channels - Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and News, ESPN, Sky Movies Premiere, Sky Movies Showcase, Sky Movies Action and Sky Movies Family. More channels will appear over time.

When selecting a channel, you are given a preview window at the top of the screen and can expend it if you like the look of what you see. It's a slick app, though it did crash on us once (on iPad 2) and is much easier to navigate if you've got a robust internet connection - the EPG is downloaded in one big chunk.

Picture quality

The quality of Sky's streaming has never been in doubt. It's excellent on both a computer and iPad, and looks particularly good when hooking up your computer or Xbox to a television. You can choose several 'quality' settings depending on your connection speed, though if you choose 'Auto' it'll auto detect the fluctuations in your bandwidth and always give you the maximum picture quality for your line.

Sky Go over Wi-Fi...

Detail is such that when watching a cricket match, for example, there's no problem seeing the ball as the frame rate and resolution handle fast-paced action competently.

3G streaming for iPhone and iPad is possible, though the quality you'll get over 3G is almost unwatchable unless your 3G signal is brilliant. Certainly, it looks better on the iPhone than the iPad over 3G due to the smaller screen. Beware it'll eat up a lot of data though.

Sky Go over 3G...

One disappointing thing for some people will be the fact that you cannot use the Sky Go iPad app in conjunction with the iPad 2's HDMI adapter. If you want to watch Sky Go on a TV, you'll need to plug in your computer or an Xbox 360, as attempting this with the iPad app delivers a message along the lines of 'ha, nice try sucker'.

Non-Sky subscribers

If you don't subscribe to Sky but want to sign up for Sky Go, you will be able to do so from August. Prices will start at £15 though if you want those sports channels you'll be asked to pay closer to £40 a month.

Offline watching

As with Sky Player before it, there's also a Desktop app available for downloading on-demand content. So if you watch to catch up on a show or match you missed, you can use the desktop app to download it.

It's a decent service, though nowhere near as polished as the BBC iPlayer app and not as easy to use. The iOS apps only support direct streaming though, so there's no downloading Sky programming to your gadgets.

In conclusion then, it's a decent service and one that will please all of the current Sky subscribers who want to make use of it. Making Sky Go 'free' to all current subscribers is a move that will no doubt keep the monthly fees pouring in and is, frankly, a nice touch at a time when cash, for many people, is rather hard to come by.