Date.com Is So 2004

By Jeremy Caplan

Online dating has boomed into a $500 million industry. But as sites for singles multiply, the old one-size-fits-all approach seems hopelessly dated. Amid such innovations as romantic search engines and cell-phone coupling, here's a look at some new trends at the heart of today's digital romance.

o "AM I 4 U?" A new U.S. service called Match.com Mobile enables online daters to transfer their profiles to cell phones, which they then use to search for--and send text messages to--nearby singles. In Britain, the 3G Dating Agency takes things a step further, enabling video messaging on high-tech phones.

o DATE RATERS If you're wondering whether Goliath279 is really the 6-ft.-tall Gap model he claims to be, sites like Lemondate.com and Truedater.com offer consumer protection. Posting reviews of online-dating candidates by people who have met them, the sites help you avoid mistaking a married man for an eligible bachelor.

o ATLAS HUGGED Need to narrow the choices? E-daters this summer are flocking to a growing number of super-specialized singles sites. Bikers, smokers, Democrats, NASCAR devotees and people with sexually transmitted diseases can surf sites of their own. Even randy Ayn Rand aficionados can gather at TheAtlasphere.com to flirt over Atlas Shrugged.

o DATING ON DEMAND Comcast Digital Cable customers can watch video profiles and then log on through Hurrydate.com to contact prospects they find attractive. Users who want to star in their own digital dramas can shoot and upload video personals. --By Jeremy Caplan