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Posted Aug 3, 2010
As a followup to our Monday article in The Beat about American Airlines' smartphone strategy, here are some techie tidbits that were not in the original piece. Asked about his thoughts on mobile apps versus mobile-enabled sites, which we also explored here, aa.com application architect John Shields said, "I came from the client-server days and then watched the dot-com era swing the pendulum back toward a more homogenized solution for Web application deployment. I feel the pendulum has swung a little bit back ...
Posted Jul 15, 2010
Last week I read a story on The Beat in which Jay Campbell insinuates that simply marketing mobile solutions directly to corporate travelers is sufficient to establish a corporate technology provider as traveler-centric. Bowling night was canceled last Tuesday, so I wasn't waking up to the typical Wednesday morning fog. I reread the posting several times, and frankly I cannot comprehend how marketing to an end-user makes a company or its products traveler-centric. In fact, I'd argue that it's quite telling when a company must resort to marketing to end-users when its clients are unwilling to pass along a seemingly critical product offering such as mobile. And, last I heard, the product in question is free, so I’m guessing when an economic buyer is unwilling to launch something that is supposed to benefit the end user, and that doesn’t cost the enterprise anything, there must be something else going on.
Posted Jul 15, 2010
In North America the Nokia brand is not as well known as others for its smartphones. Outside the US, Nokia has ~40% market share, so they are big and they are very smart. We spoke with Bob Rogers, Senior Manager at Nokia's OVI in Berlin about the company and some of its thinking.
Posted May 10, 2010
There is a phrase you don't hear very often. In fact when we board a plane, enter a meeting or listen to the opening messages at a conference we usually hear just the opposite. Lately we hear with increasing frequency that mobile phones and the apps that we run on them will dramatically change the way we work, live and manage travel. So why are we always asked to turn them off?
Posted Apr 22, 2010
Wow, check out this and/or this on Apple's travel patent application.
Posted Mar 6, 2010
Forrester analysts Josh Bernoff recently posted a blog regarding the end of the golden age of the Web and the rise of the Splinternet. As it name implies, the new environment consists of multiple devices with content and audiences fragmented across these platforms.
Posted Mar 4, 2010
When I asked TripIt execs last summer what kind of volume discounts their travel management company partners can offer clients on the Pro version of the company's itinerary solution, they didn't say. But according to Salt Lake City-based TMC Christopherson Andavo's blog: "We can get you a huge discount on your TripIt Pro annual rate (huge = almost half off)." The hottest tech story in corporate travel right now is the race to one-up traditional emailed itineraries with robust, interactive applications, and investors have taken notice with a fresh $7 million of investment in TripIt, announced Thursday.
Posted Jan 7, 2010
In preparing for ProMedia.travel Content Solutions' upcoming webinar, 10 Top Travel Management Tactics for 2010, I surveyed registrants as they signed up to find out what trends, tools and technologies they expect will influence their travel management programs most in 2010. My technology limited me to seven choices (including "other"), but here is what I have learned so far from our current 276 registrants.
Posted Nov 10, 2009
Most companies are talking about the need for change based on external conditions, yet they are not changing fast enough to address gaps and capitalize on opportunities. Investing in effective employee mobility programs can show a wonderful return. It is also an investment in your most important asset – your employees.
Posted Oct 7, 2009
The Beat readers voted for TripIt cofounder and president Gregg Brockway to present his views on current and future travel technologies as a keynote presentation at The Beat Live in Austin Sept. 23. An excerpt of Brockway's presentation follows and his presentation deck can be found here.
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