Online Dating Comes to Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch
Posted by Dave Merten 
Apr 30, 2008 at 7:32am
Dating DNA, LLC announced the availability of their new Dating DNA Web App for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch Internet devices. iPhone and iPod Touch users can start browsing photos and compatibility scores with thousands of singles worldwide by visiting http://www.datingdna.com/iphone from the the web browser on these hand-held devices.
The Dating DNA Web App brings the photo browsing and compatibility scoring features from Dating DNA’s popular free service to the palm of the user’s hand. Dating DNA users, when not at their computer, can now browse photos of other compatible singles, then delete or skip each match, or select to have them added to their favorites section, called the “DNA Strand.”
“Not only is it our desire to allow everyone to use their Dating DNA Number all across the Internet’s social graph, but we also want to make our services available on a wide array of Internet devices, such as the iPhone,” said Kevin Carmony, CEO for Dating DNA. “Just like online dating is shifting away from traditional dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony to social networks like Facebook and MySpace, so too are many people moving to their cell phones for interacting socially on the Internet.”
Kevin Carmony, recently-resigned CEO for desktop Linux vendor Linspire, started the free Dating DNA service in August of last year. Dating DNA provides free and open Web Services which bring 1-click compatibility scoring and other sophisticated dating features to Social Networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Craigslist, as well as to Internet devices such as Apple’s iPhone and the Chumby web appliance (http://www.chumby.com).
Carmony believes that just like everyone’s genetic DNA is different, so too is everyone’s “dating DNA.” A person’s “dating DNA” is represented by a unique 9-digit number, exclusive to that individual. Users can get their free Dating DNA Number by visiting http://www.datingdna.com and answering a series of questions about themselves and their dating preferences.
Once a user has a Dating DNA Number, they can use their iPhone or iPod Touch device to browse photos of users with whom their compatibility score matches that user’s “Compatibility Threshold.” Unlike traditional dating sites where literally anyone can view a user’s profile and photos, and then contact them, Dating DNA keeps all information and photos private, except to those who meet or exceed a “Compatibility Threshold,” set by each user. This means photos and profiles are only seen by those a user is compatible with, based on the rules and criteria they set.
Through a patent-pending system devised by Carmony, Dating DNA encapsulates over 300 pieces of information down into a single 9-digit number, including all the particulars about a person and the type of people they prefer to date. For example, encoded in the number is a person’s hair color, height, line of employment, religion, if they have children, political leanings, and hundreds of other pieces of information. Also encoded in the number are the person’s dating preferences, such as do they prefer to date a non-smoker, someone who likes pets, someone who wants children, someone who owns their own home, and so on, as well as the weight a person places upon each of the different criteria.
The Dating DNA site, Web Services and Web Apps are 100% free to use, and utilize Web 2.0 technology to create an integrated experience that is extremely easy, fun and enjoyable for the user.
Central to Dating DNA’s strategy, is providing open APIs to their Web Services which allow developers to bring Dating DNA’s 1-click compatibility scoring engine to other sites and devices. For example, there are Dating DNA-powered applications for Facebook and MySpace. The iPhone Web App was developed using these Web Services.
See examples of the Dating DNA service and the iPhone Web App at http://www.datingdna.com/screenshots or by visiting Apple’s website at here.
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Dave Merten
Dave was one of the founding guides at ‘The Mining Company,’ now known as About.com, in February 1998. Dave was their ‘Focus on Mac Support’ guide. In 2004 he started ‘G5 Owners Support Group,’ and in 2005, renamed it ‘Mac Owners Support Group.’ In 2006, he started the ‘MacOSG Support Corner’ column here at Macsimum News.
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Andrew T Says:
Nice looking application design for the iPhone, but having to register from a desktop due to Flash requirements defeats the intention of the site, doesn’t it? Maybe one day the iPhone will be able to view Flash content. *sigh*
Posted on April 30, 2008