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Avantar, a sister company to Yellow Pages Directory, is a fast-growing, high-tech company based in Utah. The interactive digital communications company develops and markets mobile and web applications, and is especially strong in iPhone and iPod Touch application marketing and development.

Avantar has developed popular iPhone apps including Showtimes (http://itunes.com/app/Showtimes), which was recently rated "Best Movie App" by Macworld Magazine, and Yellow Pages (http://www.avantar.us/products/yellowpages), currently the #1 downloaded business directory under "Navigation" in the App Store. Other apps developed by Avantar include OneTap Movies (http://itunes.com/app/OneTapMovies), Munch (http://itunes.com/app/Munch), AirYell (http://itunes.com/app/AirYell), and  Calculator AXL (http://itunes.com/app/CalculatorAXL-GraphingCalculator), a graphing calculator for engineers and students.

Silicon Slopes spoke with Avantar president Adrian Ochoa about the company and his thoughts on the mobile industry as a whole.

Silicon Slopes: What was the inspiration behind your company and your decision to develop for mobile devices?

Ochoa: Several things led to our inspiration to develop for mobile devices. We have the backing of our sister company, Yellow Pages Directory, LLC. In our search for new ways to generate local traffic, we were led to mobile devices. My inspiration for creating iPhone apps stemmed from the fact that I have always been an Apple enthusiast, and that I have an extensive knowledge of the Yellow Pages industry.

I always knew that the needs and wants of the consumer at large were not being met because of cumbersome and clumsy Yellow Pages informational media that did not allow them to find what they wanted, when they wanted. I'm referring to printed phone books and the Internet Yellow Pages. It's obvious that printed phone books are not portable, and do not provide the user with relevant information at any given moment. The Internet Yellow Pages is much better than the printed phone book, but it's not really portable and practical, especially for those who don't own a computer.

Silicon Slopes: How do you envision the future in terms of the mobile industry?

Ochoa: The Internet boom was truly something, but I don't think we've seen anything like the mobile boom we'll see in the future.

The research firm Informa Telecoms & Media stated that "the mobile ad market is expected to grow to $12 billion by 2013, up from an estimated $1.72 billion for 2008." If you think about it, it just makes sense. Not everyone has a computer, but cell phones are more readily available to the masses. The population of this earth is 6.6 billion and more than 3.3 billion mobile handsets have already been sold.

I also think we're in the early stages of what my business associate, Michael Alvarez, and I like to call "appreneurship." We're going to see significant growth in the app market as "appreneurs" begin to find ways to reach millions of users by leveraging strategic development relationships with companies like Apple.

Silicon Slopes: How do you go from idea to app? What's the process?

Ochoa: We are far more than simply a mobile or app development company. With nearly two million downloads so far, four million monthly searches conducted by our users and nearly 20 million monthly localized ad impressions available for sale, we are now a true leader in local mobile search. We use mobile devices to reach our audience because it happens to be one of the best ways to provide mass audiences with locally relevant information, and each app we create must have a local search component to it.

Silicon Slopes: What criteria do you use to determine or predict which apps will be successful and which aren't worth developing? Do you build five hoping that one hits it big?

Ochoa: No. This is a normal strategy many other app developers are doing, but we concentrate only on what we do best and what works to generate hundreds of thousands of return visitors on a monthly basis. We were fortunate to have had the vision to be one of the first apps launched in the iPhone's App Store. We invested early, and this gave us a competitive advantage we may not have been able to achieve if we had been late to the game.

Silicon Slopes: With over 25,000 apps now on the market for iPhones, how do you get your apps to stand out from the crowd?

Ochoa: Advertising is now a must for anyone who wants to stand out and be noticed. We also get media attention for our apps by sending out press releases through PR portals like www.PRMac.com.

Silicon Slopes: What's one best practice you've learned throughout the process of releasing your many successful apps?

Ochoa: The importance of great design and user interface. The app has to be visually appealing, useful, and relevant for it to be successful. It is also important to answer customer support questions as soon as possible, and find ways to engage your customers in either spreading the word or keeping others informed of new features or changes.

Silicon Slopes: Do you see the Google Android project as a serious competition to iPhone?

Ochoa: Not so far. Android has a long way to go if they want to compete with the iPhone. But, I think we've all learned that Google should never be counted out of anything.

Silicon Slopes: What exciting things you are working on currently?

Ochoa: Really just expanding our existing apps into other platforms and creating strategic business development relationships that will expand our network and reach.

Silicon Slopes:  How will the next generation of iPhone apps differ from those we have today?

Ochoa: They will be more "intelligent" because they will provide more useful, relevant, and local information to the user. Imagine adding a "lunch meeting" for a future date and having your calendar suggest a great place to eat near you, which also includes a discounted coupon.