It has been nearly 2 years since Apple filed the patent for iTravel, a comprehensive effort to capture the full cycle of travel booking, itinerary management and airport check-in. Last spring, Google ... Read More »

The following is a proposal to speak at The Beat Live. Readers of The Beat will vote for their choice among five proposals, and the speaker with the most votes will deliver a keynote speech on Wednesday Sept. 21. Read More »

News this week that AA successfully defeated the Orbitz motion for a temporary injunction allowing AA to remove its content from Orbitz has uncovered some interesting news that may foretell major changes in air distribution for 2011 and beyond. As reported in The Beat, sources are indicating that Priceline may be the first of the four major OTAs to contract with AA’s direct connect solution. There is no question that the traditional GDS-based distribution oligopoly is under threat from di Read More »

There is no question that third-party software developers have had a major impact on the technology market. Whether you look at the role of Zynga providing top Facebook apps such as Farmville or the thousands of 3rd party apps in the mobile app stores, no one can deny the impact of third party development on innovation, but what about the travel industry? What role does 3rd party software developers play in the travel market? What factors inhibit their contribution to travel innovation? Read More »

The Open Axis Group, the not-for-profit industry organization promoting XML-based airline distribution connectivity has produced a video and whitepaper in an effort to persuade the indirect channel (TMCs, Corporate Booking Tools & GDS) to adopt their XML schema to access airline content including ancillary services. Read More »

Earlier this month I attended the Locations & Beyond Summit 2010 in San Fransisco. The Summit coincided with the CTIA Enterprise and Applications Fall conference and thus the sessions attracted speakers from all major wireless companies and software companies that support the wireless ecosystem. The workshop began with a keynote address from Rob Carter CIO of FedEx Corporation. Rob spoke about how FedEx pioneered the use of location tracking as a core way to improve the package delivery proc Read More »

One major debate that persists in the area of mobile development is the question of whether a travel company should create a native (downloadable) app or simply provide a mobile Web application. Read More »

I attended the NBTA Convention in Houston last week. Frankly I have been to so many NBTA conventions, I have lost count (this was probably my 22nd or 23rd convention). What was shocking to me was how there was so little change in the content of the program from those I attended back in the early 1990s. Sessions on travel policy, expense management, globalization, vendor negotiations and meetings management represented the bulk of the content. There were a few progressive sessions on the social W Read More »

Now that the Google acquisition has been announced a great deal speculation has emerged as far as Google’s intentions. Given the fact that regulatory approval is required and that the deal has not been completed, ITA itself has been unable to speculate on Google’s strategy. Google has devoted some energy in stating that it will not become a seller of travel, but hasn’t disclosed specifics on their plans other than stating that it will improve the consumer shopping experience.

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Mobile location-based networking apps such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and Loopt are gaining traction in the market. How do they fit into the travel experience?

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