Rentals.com simultaneously debuted its iPhone and Android applications with the goal of furthering its cross-channel distribution strategy.

The company launched its first iPhone application in 2008, which was then followed by the Android application, for Apartment Guide. Rentals.com claims that it had the opportunity to compare and contrast the two platforms and it has given them a lot of insight into the application?s performance and consumer behaviors.

?Late last year, we began planning mobile apps for Rentals.com,? said David Quinlan, general manager of emerging technologies at Primedia, Atlanta, GA. ?For most companies who decide to create a mobile application, the iPhone is almost a given.

?But there are opportunities with the Android and having the experience of developing iPhone and Android mobile applications for Apartment Guide, we made the decision to launch Rentals.com mobile on both platforms,? he said.

?We felt that it was an opportunity for our business and a benefit for our mobile users.?

Rentals.com is an online resource for residential rentals.

Here is a screen grab of the application:

Apps for rent
The company claims that it provides consumers with immediate access to relevant, localized information as they search for a place to live making the renting process much easier.

Consumers can search for property rental by entering in the city, state or ZIP code.

Additionally users can leverage GPS to search nearby, save their recent searches, view complete property information ? including full-color photos and maps, email properties to friends and family, add property notes and personal ratings, rank and save favorite properties and use the advance search to narrow results by radius, sort criteria, property types, beds, bath, price and amenities.

Consumers can also look at a certain property and click to call the seller.

?We want to provide the best tools and solutions - whether it be Internet, print or mobile - to help people find a place to live,? Mr. Quinlan said. ?What we find is that our mobile applications complement our other solutions very well.

?It is important that we provide functionality that our users will find useful,? he said. ?The application allows people to add properties to their favorites list; see which properties they have called or emailed and add rating and notes on each property for future reference.

?In our Android phone we even added street views at the last minute. We will continue to add more features like this to help people find a place to live.?

Here is another screen grab of the application:

Mobile versatility
Rentals.com claims that it is monitoring the smartphone market and trends to determine what makes sense for the company and its audience.

As of yet, the company is not developing applications for other smartphone platforms.

"We do recognize that there are many smartphones such as BlackBerry, Palm, Nokia, Windows Mobile and feature phones with data capabilities so we will have a mobile-optimized Web site for people to access Rentals.com anytime, anywhere,? Mr. Quinlan said.