The growth is happening in part because of newer cell phones that have cameras, broadband wireless connections and clear color displays, allowing singles to send and receive photos and text messages to check out prospective partners, according to research from analysts and vendors.

In addition, a cell phone is easier to use in the middle of the day; PC-based dating services, on the other hand, are used mainly in the evening hours, according to findings from , a mobile subscription service offered by Trilibis Mobile in San Francisco.

"A lot of the interest in mobile dating is tied to Internet communities, which are certainly growing," said Tole Hart, an analyst at Gartner Inc.

"Mobile dating will continue to grow because Internet communities like MySpace and Jumbuck Island will grow," Hart said. "If you can easily show somebody pictures or share music, that's almost inadvertently dating at times."

"A cell phone is a personal device which lends itself to mobile dating," Hart added. "Today's cell phones can do more things, with higher-speed data and with more picture capabilities." The ability to show a person something you are seeing via a wireless camera, often called "see what I see," supports this trend, he said.