| 03 May 2010

Though the product has been out and available for nearly a year now, optionsXpress (OXPS) officially released Xtend today in its post-beta state. Originally dubbed "OX|Xtend 2 Beta" the product is built on Adobe Air (ADBE) technology and is meant to work seamlessly with other optionsXpress applications such as their mobile trading apps.

The platform is a downloadable application that runs from a user's desktop. This allows the user to customize the interface to their liking through a simple, drag-and-drop interface. The platform feels to us like a hybrid between the more advanced eSignal desktop applications and online, dymanic HTML applications from firms such as tradeMONSTER, both of which allow traders to customize their desktop views.
Sairam Rangachari, optionsXpress Chief Innovation Officer, said, "We are creating a new paradigm in trading software -- this 'Rich Trading Application' phenomenon is redefining how people interact with their trading experience."

While we don't agree that Mr. Rangachari's firm is actually creating this new paradigm given the other platforms we've seen, we do like their approach and willingness to solicit feedback from customers.  "OptionsXpress differentiates itself by its customer-driven innovation model," Mr. Rangachari said, "Thousands of our customers participated in an open Beta period that led to radical advances in the platform."

We will dig in further to find out just what "radical innovations" unfolded over the last 10 months or so. We did, however, notice that the platform added Twitter and RSS feed integration as well as live chat functionality.