iPhone allows homosexuals to find one another

An application on the iPhone, a multimedia smart phone designed by Apple Inc, uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to track down homosexual people and help them meet one another.

The iPhone application, Grindr, uses the iPhone's GPS to let its users see a list of other homosexual men in the vicinity, and also provides vital statistics such as height, weight, age, ethnic background, and even a photo, the New Zealand Herald reported.

The new technology has proved to be a hit with the country's homosexual community, and Grindr developer Joel Simkhai said it solved a key problem — knowing who else in your immediate vicinity is a homosexual.

A similar version for homosexual women will be out by the end of the year, Simkhai said.

Matt Akersten, former editor of the portal Gay New Zealand, said hundreds of local homosexual men have embraced the application.

"You might not be in the traditionally gay areas — you could be in one of the smaller centres — and you just plug it in and realise you are not alone, and there are other people like you out there, it's a great networking tool," he said.

The application, however, has an accuracy rating of plus or minus 3km, he said.