I am looking for the name of (and websites referring to) a Japanese(?)
gadget that allowed singles to enter their specific profile on it and
that would start beeping when another person came in his/her range
with a matching profile.

I have seen this quite a while ago on television (two years?)

The idea is to use this for a management event...

Dear jdesiron,

The device you have in mind is known as "love bleeper", sometimes also
referred to as "love beeper". The Japanese trade name, however, is
"Lovegety" (plural: Lovegeties) which is a transliteration of the
English "get love".

The sole manufacturer of the Lovegety device was the Japanese company
Erfolg Co.Ltd., a subsidary of Oki Electric Industry Co.Ltd. They
don't make that product anymore, but you might want to contact them to
inquire if they still have remainders of stock:


[Oki Electric Japanese Corporate Head Office]

Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd.
7-12, Toranomon 1-chome, Minato-ku
Tokyo 105-8460
Japan
--
Phone: +81-3-3501-3111
Fax: +81-3-3581-5522
Website: http://www.oki.com/jp/



[US Branch Head Office]

Oki America, Inc.
785 North Mary Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085-2909
--
Phone: +1-408-720-1900
Fax: +1-408-720-1918



Here are some websites referring to this product:

EXN.ca: Love at first bleep?
http://www.exn.ca/Stories/1998/05/20/56.asp

CNN: Japan's lonely hearts find each other with 'Lovegety'
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9806/07/fringe/japan.lovegety/index.html

MED Magazine: New Word of the Month - Love Bleeper
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/med-magazine/February2004/16-New-Word-Lovegety.htm

Wired News: Love - Japanese Style
http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,12899,00.html

The Dragon's Roar: Lovegety - Lookin' For Love in New Cyber Spaces
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/5921/lovegety.html


I hope that this answers your question!
Regards,
Scriptor




Additional sources used during research:

Asiaweek: The Innovation Nation
http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/98/0814/cs10.html

Jed McClure: Thesis Research
http://a.parsons.edu/~jed/thesis/subsections/r_blog.htm

Search terms used:
japan singles beeps similar
://www.google.de/search?num=20&hl=de&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=japan+singles+beeps+similar&btnG=Suche&meta=
Lovegety
http://images.google.de/images?q=Lovegety&num=20&hl=de&lr=&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&sa=N&tab=wi
lovegety manufacturer
://www.google.de/search?q=lovegety+manufacturer&num=20&hl=de&lr=&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&start=0&sa=N
"erfolg co ltd"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=%22erfolg+co+ltd%22&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
lovegety erfolg
://www.google.de/search?num=20&hl=de&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=lovegety+erfolg&btnG=Suche&meta=
"oki electric" erfolg
://www.google.de/search?num=20&hl=de&newwindow=1&c2coff=1&q=%22oki+electric%22+erfolg&btnG=Suche&meta=

I am truly impressed by the quick turnaround and the quality of the answer.