From RFID and climate control to HDTV and the ultimate, ever-changing room with a view, what are the best pieces of technology every hotel room should have?

Read more

In recent months there has been plenty of discussion about some of the opportunities that DMOs have when it comes to the mobile space.

I also discussed how destinations have the leg up when it comes to aggregating local and regional content.

It would seem that some DMOs are actually making some positive steps towards embracing and potentially leveraging the mobile space to market their destinations more effectively.

Read more

Dubai-based airline Emirates is behind an amazing new Apple iPhone application which acts as a translation tool by taking a picture of the handset users mouth and then animates to produce a range of phrases.

Built to translate English into French, German and Arabic by Lean Mean Fighting Machine in London, the app is a bit rough around the edges and difficult to set up - but it works.

Here is a demo video.

Read more

Words are not required to describe how well designed this gadget is. And how unique it is.

Mobile Desk is a foldaway chair and mini-table, one suspects, primarily for business travellers, although conference attendees might prefer its ergonomic advantages to traditional event chairs.

It measures 38 inches in length and costs a hefty $500.

Read more

Priceline introduced a free Hotel Negotiator app for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch that enables you to bid for and book a Name-Your-Own Price hotel room up to 11 p.m. ET on the evening of your hoped-for stay.

Mobile applications are particularly geared for these last-minute -- or, should we say, last-hour -- bookings as travelers, who find themselves without a room, can use their iPhones to secure a room whether the would-be customers find themselves at an airport, stranded at an endless business meeting, or at the local saloon.

Last month, Priceline President and CEO Jeffery Boyd talked of envisioning a day when consumer behavior would change so that it would become more commonplace for people to book a room once they arrive at a destination instead of before the trip.

Read more

Adventure travel anyone?

VholdR just began shipping the ContourHD1080p wearable camcorder. It seems to be perfect whether you are jumping off a cliff or biking along the boardwalk.

Check out the specs: The company says: "ContourHD1080p offers several unique features including four HD settings (1080p, 960p, and two at 720), two frame rates (30fps and 60fps), lighting you can configure (contrast, exposure, metering, and sharpness), an adjustable microphone, and a new feature not previously announced: Three bitrates (default, high, and max)."

Read more

It's heartening to learn that Verizon Wireless has been dispatching generator-powered mobile sites to Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., where Thursday's New York Yankees-Anaheim Angels baseball playoff game will be held.

Although, as of this writing, the home-team Angels have lacked for energy, the COLTs (Cells on Light Trucks) units are designed to boost "rapid and short-term network response," says Verizon Wireless, for calls, and text and pic messages transmitted by fans at the stadium or just regular folks in its environs.

We hear that AT&T, beset with complaints about lack of adequate 3G network coverage for its Apple iPhones, likely could use some COLTs, too.

Read more

Fledgling UK travel start-up PitchUp has secured what could be an interesting partnership in its early days after collaborating with TomTom, Europe's biggest satellite navigation firm.

Vistors to the site with a TomTom device can send the location and details of any of the site's 5,000 properties (such as campsites, caravan parks) or an equal number of points of interest from around the UK and Ireland.

The "Add To TomTom" functionality works by opening the user's satnav's desktop tool on its host computer and automatically placing the relevant content onto the device.

Read more

Whenever a new tech product comes out, you always wonder whether it lives up to its promises.

I wrote several months ago about the rollout of Travelport's Agencia desktop for Canadian travel agencies.

In a post earlier today, Graham Wareham, Air Canada's senior director of product distribution, says progress has been slow in the integration of agency bookings through Agencia with the Apollo GDS.

This is what Travis Christ, president, The Americas, Travelport GDS, has to say on the issue: "Travelport Agencia integrates neatly with the Apollo GDS, aggregating all Air Canada and GDS content into one display. [It] integrates the profile, and creates a PNR with all passenger and fare information.

Read more

There is another way beyond simply guessing whether extra charges will be incurred at the airport check-in desk.

Time to test the No-More-Excess Digital Luggage Weighing Scales then...

Read more

Sometimes I have to calm myself down and reel myself in.

I was thinking about that in the days following stories I wrote about how "Google Sidewiki could be a sideshow for review sites" and "Why TechCrunch is wrong about Google Sidewiki."

Will consumers really take advantage of the ability to comment about a publishers' website in a side window visible only to fellow Sidewiki users?

I have to admit that I haven't opened Sidewiki, which sits in my Google Toolbar, since I wrote those posts. It takes an extra step and who has the time.

Read more

Need somewhere to keep the MP3 player, batteries, camera, leads, DS, USB keys and mobile phone tidy when travelling?

Read more

As the U.S. Dept. of Justice apparently continues to contact customers of Farelogix and Sabre, Farelogix President and CEO Jim Davidson rejected Sabre's allegation that their developer's agreement, which Sabre terminated earlier this year, "was an attempt to free ride off of our database and systems."

Davidson says Farelogix made payments to Sabre for the developer's agreement, which enabled the FLX Platform to operate side-by-side with Sabre and provide travel management companies with additional functionality as they acquired content from GDS and non-GDS sources.

Davidson won't say how much those fees were.

But, I'm betting I might be able to pick up and garage a 2009 Acura TL 4-door sedan with 4-wheel drive or a comparable pleasure craft for the boatload of money that Farelogix likely paid for the agreement.

Read more

Air Canada, which took a $61 million write-off several months ago and scuttled a 4-year-old ITA Software project to overhaul the airline's reservations system, apparently is ready to assist the technology firm in its efforts to pedal the Passenger Services System to other airlines.

In an ITA Software announcement about a second deal to implement ITA's QPX pricing and shopping system across AirCanada.com and its agency websites, ITA stated: "Air Canada will provide testing and domain expertise to ITA as it completes the remaining work on its industry-changing Passenger Services System (PSS) solution."

When asked if that work with ITA pertained to eventual implementation of the discontinued Polaris res system project, Air Canada spokesman John Reber told me: “The testing and domain expertise provided on PSS is to support ITA in proposals for other airlines.”

Read more

Manchester Airport in the UK is hitting the headlines today as a result of a trial taking place of a security scanner which produces 'nude' images of passengers.

The system, developed by Rapiscan Systems, works by sending electromagnetic waves at the body which are then reproduced and sent to an operator for analysis.

Omitted from the coverage today is news that a successful trial of the system - of which there have been many - doesn't automatically lead to mass adoption by airports around the world.

Read more