Both Hart and Philip Redman, another a Gartner analyst, said mobile dating appears to be more popular in Japan and Korea than in the U.S., partly because of the popularity of cell phones there. But U.S.-based carriers will continue to support third-party subscription services and new technologies, Redman said. "Mobile dating appeals to carriers for adding airtime minutes [to increase revenues], plus it gets them into a specific market segment that is based on social interactions," he said.

Adding location capabilities through Global Positioning System technology or other means is "suspect," however, Redman said, noting prior attempts have failed. One company in Japan several years ago offered a system in which a badge a person was wearing at a party or other gathering would flash if somebody with a compatible personal profile was nearby. The technology worked fine, but "the problem was that guys created such a broad profile that it appealed to everybody," Redman said. "Go figure -- who would have guessed guys would do that?"