iSquawker

On 29 Feb, our hosting service was subjected to a 'Denial of Service' attack which left our Apps with no prices Web service for too long a period. A new version is being released which will fail-over to a secondary Web service if necessary.

In a fast moving world, with information hitting us from all sides, it is nice to add an extra dimension to that information, thereby increasing the chances of not missing an important change when it happens. iSquawker adds the dimension of voice or sound to that of sight for that person watching spot foreign exchange (FX) rates as they move on the world's markets.

iSquawker runs on both the iPhone and the iPad (a Universal App) and is designed to mimic the traditional broker squawk boxes used by traders and brokers to broadcast their market prices. The majority of trading data is now electronically disseminated leaving traders with only their eyes to monitor market movements. iSquawker evolves a trader's screen from a visual only to an audio-visual tool that greatly enhances awareness of market activity.

For example, if the rate for Sterling against the US dollar changes to 1.6245/55, the App will squawk "Cable fortyfive fiftyfive" in a prerecorded voice.

The App also monitors prices as they approach user defined limits and when these are breached, it notifies the user of this fact via an audible and visual alert.

This is the first edition of iSquawker, which is tied to spot FX rates supplied by FOREX.com. This means that many currency pairs can be tracked this way, and under user control, a suitable set of pairs can be set up easily using a few touches of the screen to do so.

Further editions are in progress which will ‘Squawk’ other prices and rates.

It is aimed at anyone interested in FX rates, from the professional deep in the market, to the individual who is running positions on his own account, or any interested party who simply want to be able to hear the rates change.

It is ideal for the driver on his way to work where the attention is, by law, on the road around about. Simply starting up the App will make sure that any important movement in the exchange rate, or any approach to, or past, a predetermined limit, will be made obvious to the driver.

In 'Nighttime' mode, the screen goes dark, so the user can rest in the assured knowledge that any break of a limit will immediately be 'squawked' and hence, reacted to as appropriate.

Different voices can be used for different currency pairs, and the App has built in methods to recording the necessary sounds. This adds an additional dimension to the squawk.

Further editions of this App will be made available. These will 'squawk' other prices and rates. If you have a particular commodity that you think would benefit from this approach, please contact the company at hal.hovland@smartphonet.co.uk

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Software to detect if the primary Web service is compromised, and to switch over to a secondary prices Web service (or a differently located server) if necessary.