Apartments.com Partnership Creates Nation’s First Ever GPS Apartment Search Application Accessible through Mobile Phones

CHICAGO – Apartments.com today announced a national partnership with Smarter Agent to provide apartment listing content through wireless carriers. While in a neighborhood, subscribers to this service will be able to find apartments for rent using cell phones equipped with global positioning system (GPS) technology. The commercial launch of the application will take place immediately after the Super Bowl, the traditional start of the “real estate season”.

Smarter Agent is the premier provider of GPS real estate applications that work on mobile devices including cell phones. Consumers download Smarter Agent just as they would a ring tone or game and get a robust experience designed specifically for mobile users.

Once the Smarter Agent application is downloaded to a cell phone, each time it is engaged, the user is located and Apartments.com listings from that area are instantly shown. The user may also access rental price, apartment features and pictures directly from this service. Appointments with the apartment owner/property manager can then be made through an immediate and direct connection.

All properties that advertise directly with Apartments.com will have their listings uploaded to Smarter Agent for access by these mobile subscribers.

“As mobile phones are practically everywhere, partnering with Smarter Agent is a logical step in capturing this valuable rental audience. By providing listings through this service, renters across the United States can now access Apartments.com on the go,” said Chris Long, vice president of product development at Apartments.com.

“Bringing print to the web is powerful, and mobile is certainly next. Smarter Agent has created a tool that is a win for our Apartments.com partner, their advertisers, and most notably the consumer who now has instant access to great apartments from devices they carry at all times,” said Brad Blumberg, CEO of Smarter Agent.

In addition to GPS searches, a user can search anywhere in the US by city and state to research multiple areas of interest, save properties to their phone, or call the listed number for more information right from the application.

The application will make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week in Las Vegas as part of the Navteq and Qualcomm exhibits showcasing new mobile lifestyles.

About Apartments.com
Apartments.com is the most visited national apartment Internet listing subscription service distinguished by more than two million rental listings from managed properties, newspaper classifieds and for-rent-by-owner units. Its personalized searches, highly visual ads featuring 360-degree virtual tours and professional photography, and comprehensive community listings, make it possible for in-market renters to access rental inventory from across town or across the country and make informed decisions quickly. The site's foundation of solid partnerships with the local newspaper and television station Web sites of more than 190 affiliates across the country includes the Chicago Tribune (www.chicagotribune.com), The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) and the Los Angeles Times (www.latimes.com). Apartments.com, a division of Chicago-based Classified Ventures, LLC, delivers highly qualified, ready-to-rent prospects to more than 14,500 trade customers, which increases closure rates and decreases the average cost of leasing an apartment.
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