Phone Technology Aids UAE Dating

BBC NEWS — Jul 29 — Many of the Dubai's black-shrouded UAE girls say they cannot check out the latest fashions in Zara or sip a smoothie in a cafe without being bombarded with the phone numbers of hopeful admirers.  UAE population has increased roughly eightfold since 1975.  Traditionally, a young man's first amorous approach to a woman is supposed to be a marriage proposal made by his parents to her parents. Bluetooth is a feature built into some mobile phones which enables the user to transfer data to another wireless device nearby. But crucially, it also enables one person to contact another within a 10 metre radius without knowing their phone number.  Ahmed Bin Desmal's friends joke that he is a "Bluetooth king". The 20-year-old says he has used the technology to send notes to girls he sees in public places.  "In our country it's very rude to go up and talk to them," he says. "I sent some notes, they liked them – they took my number and they called me. I say nice things – I'm into poems." Saud, 22, met the girl he describes as his girlfriend two years ago on the internet, through instant messaging software. Although they talk on the phone, he has seen her only five or six times, by following her from a distance as she shops with her family in a mall. He says she's beautiful.  FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS