E*Trade is in the process of developing an iPhone app, anonymous sources claim. The app from the online investment service is allegedly in a "very secret" beta stage, and should give E*Trade subscribers the ability to order, switch or cancel trades. Other features are said to include portfolio access, stock research, lists of open orders and real-time quote tracking.

The app is expected to build on top of features in an existing title for BlackBerry phones, which are more typically favored in the business and financial worlds. No official release date for the iPhone software has been fixed, according to the sources, but the app may be ready for May. Such a timeframe would leave only a month or two before the expected deployment of the iPhone 3.0 firmware.