Guest post by Revinate A few years ago, naysayers said that social media was just a fad. Today there are hundreds of millions of active users on Facebook and Twitter, not to mention major review sites and OTA’s. The rapid adoption of social media has forever changed the way people communicate and discover. With so many ways to share information with ever-expanding networks of friends, user-generated... 

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... 

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) were first introduced to the public with the original Apple MAC  in 1984. The MAC as well as the first version of Microsoft Windows were actually based on technology developed by Xerox PARC back n the early 1980s. The GUI became mainstream with the introduction of Microsoft Windows and by the early 1990s most consumers were accustomed to using a mouse to navigate... 

I attended the Eye for Travel TDS Summit last month in London and found the sessions lively and informative while the conference provided some great networking opportunities. The most enjoyable general session was about mobile which had consecutive presentations from Google, RIM, Facebook and Nokia.  For those who were not following my tweets, here are some of the highlights from that session: ... 

Social Media Marketing: 27 Awesome Stats, Soundbites and Slides View more presentations from HubSpot Internet Marketing. Tweet  

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? By definition mobile location based networking is designed to help you discover the world around you, a natural connection to travel. There is a gaming element of these apps that allow you earn badges or become the mayor of a frequently... 

Last month I spoke at the World Congress on Information and Technology (WCIT) in Amsterdam.  Mark Ejlenberg one of the co-founders of the hotel online content distribution platform Leonardo, presented a new project called AMS 3.0.  The goal of AMS 3.0 is to create a platform that will make all the city’s data available. Mark has been working with a group of students from the Waag Society. ... 

Loyal readers of my blog know that I  have long advocated the need for a more intelligent interface for travel planing and booking.  Early self-booking engines often promoted themselves as replacements for travel agents, while in reality most were (and many still are) simply sending off commands to the GDS  or supplier reservation systems and displaying standard content.  During the TNooz #tcamp5... 

Apple has filed a patent for the complete travel process on the iPhone.The patent includes an application called iTravel for planning, searching, reviewing and booking flights, hotels, car rentals, trains and bus trips, as well as technology for identification at airports for baggage handling and boarding passes. The patent relies heavily on Near Field Communications (NFC) to enable the quick exchange... 

A lot has been written about the possible acquisition of of ITA Software by Google since it first appeared in the press last week.  The travel technology blogosphere has been active with all sorts of speculation.  Before I give you my take on the potential $1Billion buyout, I thought I would summarize some of the current themes that have already been mentioned by others: Google will use ITA to...