The just-launched Google Sidewiki is informative and pretty fun to play with even as it tends to disintermediate website publishers and fragments comments about their content. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington is correct that the proliferation of review websites and blogs has made website owners much more open to free-flowing, few-holds barred commentary. So, yes, the gamut of publishers may not have the same visceral reaction that they had earlier in this decade. However, I think Arrington seriously underestimates the push-back and tempest which I believe Sidewiki will generate.... Read More

In a short blog post Dopplr has this morning confirmed that their rumoured sale to Nokia has completed successfully. So it's about the data. Interconnected data. One of the challenges with Dopplr is that it relies heavily on the network effect. The network, collectively, becomes more useful the more people join. This is true of most social networks.... Read More

News today from Orange that the Apple iPhone will finally be available in the UK to users its network and not just those than O2 will probably boost the chances of 2009 being the “Year of the Mobile” for travel, as so many have predicted. So while anger over roaming charges remains a problem, pushing the iPhone to yet another of the UK’s large service providers will not only boost sales of Apple handsets but also enhance the general connectivity of consumers on-the-go. This, some say, is an issue which has dogged mobile as a critical channel for travel brands. Nevertheless, interactivity still appears to focus around a key areas – something that examining the iPhone app charts can illustrate.... Read More

We are officially celebrating the one year anniversary of the GFC - Global Financial Crisis meltdown. I think by now much of the stories and speculation have been written. So let's look at some website traffic stats and see if there is anything we can deduce from them.... Read More

Among the Chinese diaspora in the world, we have just bade farewell to the Hungry Ghost month. That’s the period when underworld spirits supposedly come out to roam our world and it’s not considered an auspicious time to travel far, go out at night, let alone launch a new business venture. As a spirit-fearing Chinese – who isn’t these days in a world when real money has proven to have as much value as the paper money we burn at funerals and other religious ceremonies – the launch of TNooz thus comes at an auspicious time.... Read More

British Airways is remaining tight-lipped for the time being but it seems the idea of creating online social networks for business and frequent travellers is catching on at its Waterside HQ in West London. Hot on the heels of its MetroTwin project, linking London and New York, comes a very low-key launch for MetroTwin Mumbai. The site is currenly a blog-type feed of destination content, penned by a range of India and UK-based bloggers.... Read More

Attention airlines, global distribution systems and websites that subscribe to fare updates from the Airline Tariff Publishing Co – you’ll have to wait until mid-2010 for hourly updates of international fares. ATPCO, the global disseminator of air fares, delayed implementation of a plan to increase updates of things like New York to Paris or Beijing to Bangkok fares. Slated to go with a speedier update system about a month from now, in November, ATPCO revealed that the new timetable is May 2010.... Read More

Suddenly, with the credit and stock markets thawing a bit, a slew of travel companies may be talking to investment bankers and testing the IPO waters. Consider that the Boston.com reported that Kayak is talking to investment bankers about going public. And, Reuters disclosed that the private equity and airline owners of Amadeus, the global distribution system and technology company, hired an investment bank to mull taking the company public.... Read More

Bing… incoming press release from HotelsCombined, a Sydney based hotel reservation company. They have launched a new scheme to guarantee 100% up-time to their affiliate partners. Is this for real or just a wacky plan that has been dreamt up in a marketing meeting in order to achieve a quick PR buzz boost?... Read More

A new service which aims to provide super-cheap, bandwidth-wide telephone calls in hotels was unveiled today – though bosses admit they are to some extent at the mercy of mobile network providers. Clasix is an ambitious project run out of Toronto, Canada, but with a focus on European hotel chains to give owners what it says will be a 100MB pipe into properties. The consumer pitch is a competitive 60 minutes of talk time for Euro 5.99, with Clasix (chaired by Adrian Science in Toronto and biz dev handled by Michael Lacy in London) throwing a free installation proposal at prospective chains and hoteliers.... Read More

Google Sidewiki, just introduced in beta and accessible through an updated Google toolbar, enables anyone to publish and share comments about almost any web page. Viewable in a window that opens alongside Web pages, you can also read and rate others’ comments about those web pages.... Read More

Formed in 1995 in Sydney, Viator, with its Paris Chocolate and Pastry Food Tours, as well as the traditional Moulin Rouge gawking fests, is all grown up. Headquartered in San Francisco, with regional offices in Las Vegas, London and Sydney, the privately held global tour and activities provider is expected to do about $87 million in sales in 2009. And, that’s not peanuts for a company that acts as an intermediary for suppliers ranging from big guys like Paris Vision, but more commonly for a disparate legion of mom-and-pop ground operators around the world. I caught up with Viator CEO and President Barrie Seidenberg, and founder and Chairman Rod Cuthbert, to see where this whole thing is headed.... Read More

What is my agenda for the site, what do I say, what is my voice, my goal, my cause, what will I write about? Those of you who know me well are already aware of what drives my personal ambition as well as my writing: travel, technology and the environment. And while future posts, articles and theoretical ramblings will present a stronger focus on tourism technology, I felt it appropriate to address a larger subject. Global, if you will.... Read More

Twitter has become an interesting playground for brands of all shapes and sizes to test their marketplace - or at least their followers. Travel brands are no exception, throwing out links to new pages and products on their websites. It's a quick and dirty approach which yields next to no fantastically empirical results yet can give some indication of enthusiasm - or not - for a new offering. Step forward TripAdvisor, the hotel review site everyone loves to have an opinion on.... Read More

Radisson Hotels & Resorts has become the latest in a long line of hotel chains looking to boost their responsibility to modern CRM by launching a consumer mobile platform. Created and operated by Dublin, Ireland-based Mobile Travel Technologies, Radisson will allow customers in the India, Australia and the UK to book rooms and browse through pages of information and images about individual hotels.... Read More