Reviews

eHarmony launched a new dating site called Jazzed late last month. The site is currently free but we expect it to go paid once enough members have joined. In the past eHarmony usually keeps the site free for the first 3 months of operation.

So how is Jazzed.com different from eHarmony? Well, think of it as a less complicated version of eHarmony with searching. eHarmony is a very successful dating site but it is designed for someone looking for a serious relationship. The in-depth profile questions, communication process and matchmaking is not for everyone and eHarmony realizes this. Jazzed.com is more conventional, like the dating sites Match.com and PlentyofFish. The dating tools are simpler (when compared to eHarmony) and members are expected to search for their own matches.

You can expect a review of this new online dating site to be available soon.

To find out more about the parent dating site of Jazzed, please read our eHarmony.com review.

Remember the last time you spied someone across a crowded room or bar and wanted to give them your number? Out of business cards and determined to not write in on a napkin (or worse, their hand), maybe you skipped the opportunity all together in favor of "maybe I'll see them again." Well, instead of falling in love, there's a new company that lets you flip first!

A new company called FlipMe gives singles a way to share their number without sharing all of the information they'd share on a business card. When you see someone you like, you simply flip them - that is, you give them a card with your unique FlipperID. If the receiving party is interested, they'll log in, enter your ID and receive more information about you.

How is this different from a business card? Well, it puts YOU in control of the information you share. It also doesn't leave your contact information lying around on a bar on the floor somewhere or leave you subject to creepy emails from someone who (literally) found your information. While the concept is still very new, founder hope it will take off and offer folks looking to connect yet another tool in their dating toolbox to build successful introductions.

Interestingly enough, the concept stems from how the founder met her husband. They kept making eye contact across a bar and he gave the waitress a note to hand to her. They've been married now for five years and have started a family. Founder Rachel DeAlto and her husband hope the concept will take off and tap into the online component presently reserved for online dating.

You can learn more about FlipMe at FlipMeDating.com.

Cupidtino, a new dating website for those who prefer their MacBooks to PCs, launched earlier this month and has already gained a following of more than 16,000 Apple lovers.

The dating site is exclusively for fans of Apple products. The site's founder Mel Sampat had the idea that people who were passionate about their electronics could also make for good romantic partners. Ironically, he is a former Microsoft employee.

The website introduction reads: "Diehard Mac & Apple fans often have a lot in common - personalities, creative professions, a similar sense of style and aesthetics, taste, and a love for technology. We believe these are enough fundamental reasons for two people to meet and fall in love, and so we created the first Mac-inspired dating site to help you find other Machearts around you."

With all the niche dating sites out there matching those with similar interests, including video game lovers and environmentalists, shouldn't those who are avid fans of Apple technology find other "Machearts" too?

In your Cupidtino profile, you can reveal to potential partners what your earliest Apple purchase was and list your favorite iPhone apps. If that's not love, what is?

There are some limitations with the site. You can only access the site through a Mac, iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, although you can only view photos on a Mac or iPad. If you try to login through a PC, it will lead you to a page that lets you know Cupidtino is off-limits to Windows users.

For more on this dating site for Apple fans you can visit Cupidtino directly.

It looks like Facebook has decided to get into the online dating business by in part funding the dating site Thread.com. This dating site is unique in a few ways. First of all, it is built on the Facebook platform. This means if you have a Facebook account you can login right away to Thread and once you have given Thread permission to access your Facebook information, you can begin using the dating service. This brings me to the second unique point of Thread, it allows you to meet your friends of friends. Other Facebook dating applications allow you to search for Facebook members who are using the app, not Thread. Thread gives you easy search access to all of your friend's friends. So the first thing you have to do when you join Thread is to get at least a few of your friends to join as well or you will have nobody to search for. On average (if I remember correctly) a typical diehard Facebook member has about 200 friends. This means if you invite 5 of your friends to join Thread (and they accept), you potentially have 1000 singles to search for in your social circle.

I think the idea of searching your friends of friends for a date is smart, as each person is known by someone you already know and who can vouch for them. This virtually eliminates the scammer and fake dating profile problem that plagues other online dating sites.

Thread first launched in early September 2009, so it is not very old. Two weeks into launch they had 4000 registrations and the site continues to grow. The Thread software developers are busy coding new features for the site so expect a number of updates in the near future. Everything on Thread is currently free, including messaging (which is handled by Facebook). They do plan to offer some premium products though. Some potential examples include paying for information to see who has viewed you, find out which of your photos received the most clicks, and virtual gifts. Paying for endorsement badges may also be a possibility which will allow your friends to endorse you as a great match.

The one major thing I would change about Thread is I think they should allow you the option to search for other Thread members as possible matches. I am not saying to search the friends of these members (as I am sure this would violate Facebook privacy terms), but just them. This way members have more access to people who are single. Plus, you would have access to members you can search for right away since you don't have to wait for your friends to approve your Thread invite request.

For more on this story, including an interview with CEO of Thread, Brian Phillips, visit VatorNews. You can also find the Thread.com website here.

For a list of other Facebook dating services, you can checkout our Facebook Dating category.

Are you creeped out by the idea of posting a dating profile for all to see and then going on dates with total strangers? Is the whole idea just a little too.... technological for you? You're not alone! But on the other hand, maybe you're new to town and don't know anyone. You're not religious, so meeting people through a church or temple is out. You don't dip your pen in company ink, so that cutie in Accounting is off limits. Where are you going to meet other singles if you don't do online dating?

Consider Meetup.com. Their tagline is: Do something • Learn something • Share something • Change something. No matter what type of activities you enjoy, you can bet there's a meetup group somewhere in your area devoted to it.

Do something
Why not join a meetup group of fellow runners and train for a local marathon together? Or maybe a meetup group of Civil War enthusiasts who put on reenactments? What about a meetup of hiking enthusiasts who take on a different mountain every weekend?

Learn something
Always wanted to learn how to knit? Join a knitting circle! (And remember ladies, even if the group lacks single men, it has ladies who KNOW single men!) Want to learn French cooking? Brush up on your German you've neglected since high school?

Share something
Join a local book club to share your experiences reading great literature. Find others who enjoy going to new restaurants and share in some great cuisine together. Join a playgroup for owners of Labrador Retrievers and give your dog a workout while you meet new friends.

Change something
Volunteer to help build or renovate a playground (also check kaboom.org for groups in your area helping local kids play!). Go door to door to encourage voters to support your favorite candidate. Join a group of environmentally-minded singles and adopt a section of highway to clean.

Meetup is a great way to meet new friends with similar interests. Don't by shy about signing up! Most meetups take place in public places, so you can meet your German language meetup at the local coffeeshop and your Labrador Retriever group at the dog park and feel perfectly safe while meeting new friends.

While Meetup does have singles groups, you will find a more relaxed atmosphere, without the pressure of "OMG-THIS-IS-A-DATE!" that we often feel on one-on-one dates. If the group of people mesh with you, you can come to the next meetup, or make plans to see people at other times. If they don't, you don't have to go back. No pressure, no problems.

I found Meetup to be very useful when I moved to take a job in a new city where I knew hardly anyone. I looked up some of my interests, dropped in on a couple meetups, and developed a circle of friends faster than I ever thought was possible. I really recommend meetup.com as an alternative to online dating and a great way to make new friends.

If you would like to meet some new friends, check out our full review of Meetup.com now.

The Times Online UK took a look at what they called Quickie Dating Websites recently. When I think of a quickie I assumed they were referring to an adult dating site where people go looking for casual sex. I was only partly right. They were talking about Affair / Infidelity dating sites for married people. On this side of the Atlantic, the most popular dating site for people looking to have an affair is Ashley Madison, where it is even guaranteed. In the Times article they took a look at Forget Dinner (ForgetDinner.co.uk) which is very popular in London. It is not advertised really as an affair dating site but most people on the service seem to be married. Profiles tend to be straight to the point and a lot of the photos contain nudity. There appears to be about 10 men for every 1 woman on the dating site.

Here are some infidelity related figures for the UK. In 2008, there was 115,200 divorces granted and 29 percent of these divorces were the result of adulterous behavior. According to a Grant Thornton UK Survey (2009), 9 percent of women would cheat on their partner as long as there was no way to be found out. In comparison, 24 percent of men said they would cheat. In the same survey 20 percent of men admitted to having an actual affair where only 10 percent of women did.

In the United Kingdom every month 7 million people visit online dating sites. This is a 27 percent increase over last year, whereas the percentage of the UK population that used the internet only grew by 4 percent.

For more on this story, and to get a couple of men's and one woman's experience on Forget Dinner read Times Online.