Subscribers to KGI Asia's financial services can now access and trade on its Web site using handheld devices.
While the service comes a year after similar services from online brokers Boom.com, Quamnet and Celestial Asia Securities Holdings' Cash Online, KGI Asia's service sends streaming data to the device so users do not have to constantly refresh the screen.
KGI Asia is using technology from SinoSky Technology, a year-old wireless application developer in Hong Kong which based its software on Microsoft's Pocket PC platform. The service will be available in August to Palm V owners using a CDMA QuickWing sled sold by Hutchison Telecom.
SinoSky has teamed up with New York-based financial information services provider Bridge Information Systems in a regional deal to jointly push their wireless services to online brokerages and financial houses in Asia.
Bridge supplies the market information, which is delivered in real-time using SinoSky's streaming data technology. SinoSky and Bridge have signed deals with two other online brokers in Hong Kong and plan to roll out their joint offering in Singapore soon.
The Internet-based financial service runs on a packet-based network, which can be CDMA or GPRS. Users will have access to quotes, charts, news and personal stock portfolios, and be able to trade over a secured environment. Accessing streaming quotes and charts requires higher bandwidth than static data, which must be manually refreshed. KGI Asia users also need only log on once to receive market data and stock trade instead of switching sites and going through multiple authentication processes.