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Bloomberg this week showcased its Financial App Portal for the Bloomberg Terminal at a characteristically swish launch party held at its headquarters on Lexington Avenue, New York City.

Following Apple’s wildly successful and lucrative App Store model, Bloomberg is allowing vendors to develop and sell apps to its 300,000+ Terminal users. I got a chance to explore the app portal on the day, which includes over 50 apps ranging from technical analysis, visualization, news, equity screener, derivatives, portfolio and fixed income.

This announcement is part of the company’s ongoing effort to foster innovation on its platform by third party developers. Earlier this year Bloomberg opened its market distribution API (BLPAPI) for developers to use without cost or restriction. These steps are part of an open market data initiative by the company that started in 2009 with the release of Bloomberg Open Symbology (story here).

Here are a few key takeaways from the event:

• Store is maintained and curated by Bloomberg
• Like Apple, Bloomberg will take a 30% share from app revenues
• For $500 per month, developers will be given access to a Software Development Kit (SDK), documentation, data feed, up to 3 Terminals and developer support
• Apps are subject to code review before being accepted onto the Portal
• Apps are written in C# using .NET and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)

This is a major development for the financial technology community and a smart move by Bloomberg that promises to spur innovation on its already rich Terminal and perhaps introduce The Bloomberg Professional service to new audiences.

Greg MacSweeney, Editorial Director of Wall Street & Technology recently wrote an informative article covering the announcement.

Filed under: Emin Tatosian, Technology Trends | Tagged: Bloomberg, Bloomberg App Portal, Bloomberg Professional Service, Bloomberg Terminal, Financial App Portal, Financial App Store |