Apple’s iPad is paving the way for some forward-thinking online dating applications.

Later this month dating site Skout.com will launch the first online dating application for the Apple iPad.

The dating application will be free and will be like the current app that Skout offers their smartphone users.

Skout users can search for people by age, gender and physical attributes, and Skout’s HotMap will return real-time listings for the locations of active Skout users who fit the search.

The idea is to help users find and meet other singles in their area.

Alex Willcock, CEO of VisualDNA, a maker of visual-based quiz software, says the iPad allows online dating sites to take their personal services to the next level by “providing users with a fun, engaging and enriching experience, while embracing the key elements of the iPad — simplicity and spontaneity.”

Steve Odom, CEO of online dating site Gelato, plans to redesign the Gelato website based on the iPad’s appearance. Odom says, a person’s profile picture plays a big part in online dating success and the iPad gives dating sites an opportunity to improve the presentation for their users.

David Evans, editor for onlinedatingpost.com, believes dating sites will start to display their sites like an electronic magazine, where people can flip through pages of personal profiles and enlarge photos while messaging with other users.

Evans notes that there has been discussions about adding facial-coding and eye-tracking software that would use an iPad webcam to refine profile matches based on a user’s response to profiles they view. If a person makes a grimace at an online dating profile, the profile would disappear from the screen. If a user reacted positively to a profile by smiling, similar profiles would be shown.

Love at first sight? There’s an app for that.

[ Source: Time Magazine ]

A recent online dating survey conducted by Online Schools reveals some interesting data regarding men and women who use online dating sites.

The online dating study shows:

1. The US has 40 million users of online dating sites; China has 140 million users of online dating sites and India has 15 million users of online dating services.

2. The most popular online dating sites are eHarmony with 20 million users and Match.com with 15 million users.

3. Online dating users are 52.4% male and 47.6% female.

4. The online dating industry is over a $1 billion dollar a year industry.

5. 1 out of 10 online dating users is a scammer.

6. In the US, male users of online dating site typically lie about age, height and income; while women typically lie about weight, physical build and age.

7. 1 out of 6 sex offenders use online dating sites to meet people.

For more results from the online dating survey, see the chart below

Via: Online Schools

Law enforcement officials believe that Solomon Jesus Nasser, from Greenburgh, NY, successfully used a series of online dating scams to steal $140,000 from women.

Nasser would target professional women on internet dating sites like Match.com as well as social networks with fraudulent personal stories about him being a multimillionaire; a CIA agent; a Department of Defense official; a personal friend of President George W. Bush and a high-level military commander.

After gaining their trust with his lies, Nasser managed to convince some of the women to “loan” him close to $140,000, according to prosecutors.

Nasser was arraigned on 1/28/2010 on a five count indictment that includes multiple felonies.

According to Westchester, NY District Attorney Janet DiFiore – “Soon after meeting the women, he would explain to them that he was currently in a dire financial state and that he and his ex-wife were in a contentious battle over child support or he had been sued” and that “either way, the court had frozen all his assets and he did not have money to live day-to-day.”

Nasser allegedly ran his dating scam during a three year period that ran from July 2005 to March 2008.

Nasser used dating sites, including Match.com and Plentyoffish.com to find potential victims for his scam.

According to reports, Nasser scammed over $114,000 from one victim alone. He also scammed as much as $24,764 from a second woman.

Fraud investigators from DiFiore’s department started an investigation into Nasser’s dating scam in April 2010 due to a complaint against him.

New York’s Department of Taxation and Finance assisted in the investigation, and discoverd that Nasser had avoided paying taxes with interest and penalties totaling $17,400.

Nasser has been charged with second and third-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud and filing false tax returns, which are all felonies. He has also been charged with fifth-degree criminal tax fraud, a misdemeanor.

Nasser faces five to 15 years in jail for the top charge.

After his arraignment, Nasser was sent to Westchester County jail without bail.

[ Source: LoHud.com ]

As more people become comfortable with the idea of online dating and social networking, some business analysts predict that the online dating industry could grow by as much at 25 percent in 2010.

Online dating services in Australia alone grew by 5 percent in 2009 are are expected to grow by as much as 10 percent in 2010.

A recent survey of over 3000 people by RSVP, an online dating site, discovered that 50 percent of people polled had tried online dating and 10 percent responded that they met their current partner through online dating services.

[ Source: IndiaTimes.com ]

A new dating site called ScientificMatch.com takes the idea of “chemistry” in matchmaking literally and claims to have the biological answer to the online dating game with “DNA Matching”.

ScientificMatch.com does away with low-tech personal questionnaires about a person’s interests that are used by most online dating sites and, instead, uses a DNA compatibility test from a cheek swab sample to pair love-seeking singles.

According to the site’s creator Eric Holzle: “Nature’s driving force is to ensure that you produce the healthiest possible offspring, so what DNA matching offers is the chance to pick a partner with the widest possible variety of genes and therefore the best immune system for any potential children.”

Holzle also claims that DNA testing can predict if you will have a satisfying love life as well as the likelihood that you or a partner will cheat.

Even though the idea of DNA matching to pair people sounds like science fiction, there are studies that support this new matchmaking concept.

A 1995 study found that females were attracted to the scent of males who had immune systems that were different from their own.

This aptly-named “Sweaty T-Shirt Experiment” also found the same results for male participants, who were exposed to the scent of perspiration from females.

This study is believed to provide solid evidence that the more genetic variety there is between you and a potential partner, the greater the probability that you will be a compatible pair

Holzle emphasizes that his ScientificMatch.com is not trying to remove romance from the search to find the best partner. He simply wants to streamline the search process for people who want to see if they have the right chemistry with someone to begin with.

Hozle also notes that he has found that people under the age of 45 are open to the concept of DNA matching as a potential time-saver in the dating game, while people over the age of 45 are less trusting of the DNA approach to dating and are more likely to have privacy concerns about the process.

[ Source: Daily Mail ]