Semotus Releases Equity Market Pro Wireless Service

SAN JOSE--Semotus, a wireless applicationprovider, has released Equity Market Pro, an equity version of its Globalmarket Pro real-time information product.

EMPro, which is targeted at equity traders, provides snap quotes and news from Dow Jones News Service and Comtex News Searches, Market Watch and Reuters. Users can chart a stock’s performance over time, define watch lists to track the performance of multiple equities and specify criteria for event-triggered alerts. Other functionality includes real-time symbol searches and retrieval by company name.

Semotus has been running a large number of demos for its flagship product, GMPro, but take-up has been slow. The company is confident that EMPro will be more successful. "We are running several demos at major institutions for EMPro," says Valerie Goodwin, vice-president, marketing & business development--Semotus. "Because it is affordable, we have big hopes for volumes sales. There are 300,000 equity traders in the US, providing a large target market for the service." EMPro package price starts at $110 a month compared to a starting price of $250 for GMPro.

The device preferred by financial institutions is RIM 957. "The RIM 957 has advanced charting capabilities. Since EMPro has been developed over the Semotus OTAP platform, the charts are further enhanced. The platform capabilities also allow for users to upgrade their EMPro application without having to cradle the device," says Karen Board, senior product manager, financial information services at Semotus.

The company has set up a booth on the CME’s floor where a sales representative demonstrates products to the 1,000 traders that are active on the exchange’s two trading floors. "We expect the take-up of sales to be slow given the current market situation, but we have activated a few traders on various services, with interest growing," Goodwin says.

Semotus’ technology allows financial professionals to receive time-critical market data through wireless alerts and updates on any handheld wireless device. Globalmarket Pro is designed for market professionals and traders who require real-time information. Data is sourced from Reuters Markets 2000 and Govpx, among others.

GMPro was initiated by and co-developed with JP Morgan Chase. "Chase was getting frustrated by the products available and contacted Semotus to develop a customised solution," says Pamela Lapine, executive vice president and president, Financial Services. "Chase defined what they wanted to see and Semotus applied what was appropriate on a wireless platform and built the push technology." GMPro went live at the firm earlier this year. The company is currently only active in the US but plans to roll-out next in Europe.

JP Morgan Chase officials declined to comment.