"I check her Bluetooth ID," Muhammad, a 24-year-old businessman says of passing women. "If it's cute, then I'm pretty sure she will be pretty."
Welcome to modern day flirting in Saudi Arabia where it is an arrestable offence even to talk to unrelated members of the opposite sex, writes James Sturcke.
Now, in a kingdom where a popular flirting technique is chucking phone numbers at women through car windows or in shopping malls, the arrival of Bluetooth in mobile phones has opened some unexpected doors.
Sitting in segregated restaurants, would-be Don Juans turn on their Bluetooth – named after the 10th century Danish king Harold Bluetooth, who united warring tribes - to see who's sitting within the nine metre range of the shortwave device. Suggestive ID names - poster boy, sensitive girl, lion heart, kidnapper of hearts, little princess and prisoner of tears are some common ones – can lead to a forbidden world of exchanging phone numbers, photos and kisses.
"It's more fun coming to a restaurant these days," said Mona, 21, as her two friends giggled.
The phenomenon, according to the Associated Press, has started to receive attention, especially after stories appeared in the media saying women were photographing female guests in revealing evening gowns at weddings — which are segregated — and circulating them to friends by Bluetooth.
A word of caution. Not everyone is convinced about the truth of this report (though it comes from a highly respected news agency) and it wouldn't be the first time reports of "toothing" have later turned out to be shaggy dog stories.
Nevertheless it appears that the Saudi government is thus far flummoxed about how to deal with the taboo-challenging capabilities of modern technologies. Last year, it banned camera-equipped phones, but backed off because cameras have become a feature in most phones.
