Thursday, February 16, 2006

Cellphone, Cellphone in my Hands, Who is the fairest in the Land?


A new service allows cellphone users to answer the one question that has plagued us since the first single-cell organism gazed upon its reflection in the primordial soup and wondered: “Am I hot or not…?”

Launched last week by mobile services company LuckyMobile, Rate ‘n Date allows interested people to MMS photos of themselves to join@ratendate.co.za. Photos are then rated by other cellphone users on a scale of 1 to 10.

A unique feature of Rate ‘n Date is that the service allows one to chat via SMS to other people who have submitted their photos for rating. According to Tracey Cohen, Marketing Manager of LuckyMobile, “Literally thousands ratings have been received since
Rate ‘n Date was first launched a week ago.”

After sending their photos via MMS to join@ratendate.co.za, LuckyMobile sends a WAP link to new users’ cellphones enabling them to log onto Rate ‘n Date whenever they wish to view their current scores.

The cost of each MMS sent varies according to the user’s cellular network. Minimal WAP charges apply to view other people’s photos while each SMS sent to other registered users costs R2.00.

“Technology impacts every aspect of our lives and it’s natural that people should be using technology to find the perfect partner. Internet dating and now cellphone dating enables one to interact with so many more potential partners than our parents would ever have been exposed to,” said Ms Cohen.

It is also fun and easy to rate people without registering for Rate ‘n Date. Simply surf to http://www.ratendate.co.za/ using your WAP-enabled cellphone or your computer and spend many happy hours rating people from 1 to 10 while looking for next year’s Valentine.

The only requirement to actively participate in the Rate ‘n Date service is for users to be 18 years or older. Profiles will be made available for public viewing.

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