Okay, I can't help myself. It is starting already, iPadAppMania (not to be confused with the iPad'o'mania referred to earlier).
Some intrepid financial services companies are already rolling out applications specifically for the iPad.
Since the iPad is running a specialized version of the iPhone operating system it can natively run the 150,000 or so iPhone applications that are out — though they will natively run the size they are on an iPhone until they have been optimized for the iPad.
The first application I've been notified directly about is
Thomson Reuters Marketboard, developed specifically for the iPad, it allows financial executives and market enthusiasts to “retrieve, view and save documents in an easy to use, visually engaging interface when they are out of the office.”
My contact at TR wrote me that:
“It serves as both a portable terminal to ‘Monitor' real time, interactive market information leveraging the iPad tablet navigation in addition to acting as a virtual ‘Briefcase' to provide offline reading of bookmarked transcripts, briefs, news and events. The application, which includes global market data, Reuters News and Wall Street Events, is free to download. Users can then purchase earnings call transcripts and other premium financial reports on demand from the Apple online store.”
And there you have it, the first financial advisory-related iPad application to make it onto the IN Tech blog.
For more information visit the
Apple iTunes page for Thomson Reuters Marketboard