The rise of alternative execution venues certainly has highlighted the role of technology and how it is altering the trading environment. One upstart with lofty ambitions, DirectEdge, knows well that technology is everything in this market. Its technology was in need of an upgrade, as some high-frequency traders considered it too slow for "latency-sensitive" traders, notes Traders Magazine. Direct Edge recently re-architected its data feed, which now offers "sub-millisecond" latency. In layman's terms, it's faster. It also upgraded its matching engines. All this is aimed at stealing market share from BATS, which has stormed into the lead among dark-pool execution venues, and the likes of ARCA, owned by the NYSE Euronext. This is a great example of a technology arms race in action. No truce is in sight.

For more:
- here's the article [1] from Traders Magazine