20fourlabs, the new innovation hub of online publisher 24.com, has announced the launch of Flirtaroo.mobi, a free mobile flirting site aimed at reinventing online dating in South Africa.

With thousands of South African singletons currently dating online, a need was identified for a mobile social network to allow people to connect with potential dates when they are away from their desktops. Flirtaroo, built on open source technology and with functionality similar to social network sites such as Facebook, allows users to meet new friends, ‘gift’ one another, chat via WAP and rate each other’s profiles.

“Flirtaroo is uniquely South African due to its locative search engine, so based on your phone’s IP address; you can search for people in your immediate vicinity and town. It’s also a freemium service, meaning that the service is effectively free to use, with additional premium features which users will be charged for in virtual currency,” says Stefano Sessa, Product Manager at 20fourlabs.

Virtual currency, also dubbed ‘love bucks’ (LB), is allocated to a user when he/she sends a premium rated SMS. The ratio between real and virtual currently is kept to a minimum, for example: R2 will get you 20LB, enough to use a feature where you can see who rated you and to access their profiles. Gifts range from 10 to 60LB and costs are deducted from the users’ airtime or monthly bill.

“Through using micropayments, the site is monetised. And as a mobile networking site, this is of major significance to us as it will lead to revenue generation – something sites like Twitter and Facebook have yet to achieve,” Stefano added.

On user safety, Sessa says the service has all the security measures in place to ensure personal information is protected and not shared with third parties. “We have listed terms and conditions on the web portal to encourage users to follow the rules for safe flirting. The minimum age allowed to sign up is 18 and if a user abuses the network, we will take the necessary steps to delete his/ her profile and remove them from the network.”

Flirtaroo also includes a web portal. “The beta version of the website allows users to update their profile and add photos to their photo album (usually a restriction on most mobile browsers); however the launch of a fully featured web service will see the exact functionality of the mobile service available on the web.”

Other features already in development phase include video integration via webcams, white label partnering (allowing other brands to personalise Flirtaroo sites with their own brand) as well as a credit card billing service to eventually transform it into an international platform.

“Online dating has gone stale in recent years, which is why we decided to come up with a fresh and fun platform to allow users to connect easily via their mobile phones,” Sessa concluded.

Flirtaroo can be accessed via mobile at flirtaroo.mobi or by SMSing FLIRT to 32424. For information about 20fourlabs, visit www.20fourlabs.com.