Korea’s leading operator, SK Telecom, has launched what it claims to be the world’s first location based dating service, based on an operator’s LBS system. It’s powered by WaveMarket, for the LBS element and Psynet, who provided the dating platform.
There have been plenty of forays before into MoSoSo (Mobile Social Software) based on Bluetooth, ranging from Nokia’s Sensor (no, they haven’t gone into the razor blade market) to MobiLuck, that I wrote about yesterday.
The problem with Bluetooth systems is the very limited range means that until real critical mass is achieved, any contact with another device is going to be a rare event. And certainly when you start applying a degree of matching profiles on top of location, you may be in for a very long wait to meet Mr or Mrs Right, or even Mr or Mrs SoSo (no, not another mobile acronym).
There’s a further issue that often gets forgotten with short range systems, and that’s time. The chances of finding another phone, with a matching profile at the same time is statistically very unlikely, certainly at the beginning. And why would users sign up for something, or recommend that their friends join, if nothing happens when they do?
An operator’s LBS system doesn’t have the same restrictions and can pair people within the same, say square mile – a distance that can be covered pretty quickly with the right incentive. This means the chances of a successful match increases exponentially.
Admittedly, there’s a few downsides to the operator-led approach. Firstly, there’s the accuracy question. Even if Assisted GPS is used (the most accurate I’m aware of) this is unlikely to let you make contact with someone in the same bar. If you’re out of line-of-site of a satellite, the system falls back onto a less accurate technology like triangulation or cell ID, which is not good enough to pinpoint two phones in the same room. If you know more about the tech, please leave a comment as I’m sure someone knows more than I do about this aspect.
So from that point of view, it seems that the perfect dating application would be based on a hybrid of Assisted GPS and Bluetooth, for shorter distances.
The other problem with some LBS systems is speed. You’re not going to want to wait 10 minutes or so to find a match – we’re living in a broadband world and that means we want things now.
Perhaps inevitably, the press release touts “killer app”, which seems something of an exaggeration – voice is the only killer app of phones for the foreseeable future. But it does have all the hallmarks of being an important sector – youth, sex, communication based, local and I’m sure it’ll do very well.
Just one question; why oh why do SK Telecom think it’s a good idea to have an annoying sound track playing on their website? Hasn’t anyone told them how annoying it is – and soooo last century Darlink? Or is it a bit like BO – everyone’s too embarrassed to say something?
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