BusinessWeek assesses the risks for Kayak, Lufthansa wins a US federal court judgment over its WiFi technology, Qantas posts its first loss in 17 years, and more items in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion on 23 August.Kayak's IPO was a success, says BusinessWeekBut Google may still destroy the company. Yes, Kayak's
financials remain strong. But the magazine notes:
"Kayak’s current agreement with ITA concludes at the end of 2013, and while a continued relationship is likely, there are no guarantees that Kayak’s business won’t suffer as the result of a new deal."
Lufthansa wins a ruling in US court over its WiFi techLufthansa had sought a ruling from a federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia to set out who owns the underlying Internet technology it paid for when it hired a company, True Path, to collaborate on improving the airline's Internet service.
Yesterday, the court ruled in favor of Lufthansa's lawyers' interpretation of the contracts allowing it to proceed. (The ruling's here.)
A dispute between True Path and another company, Wi-Sky, over who owned the rights to the ground-to-air wireless technology had held up Lufthansa's development of a faster in-flight WiFi service since 2010.
Qantas stumbles: Here's an unusually smart and brief explanation of the airline's financial trouble:A transcript and MP3 from this morning's broadcast of ABC's the World Today, via Sydney. It provides context for why Qantas had its first annual loss in at least 17 years and why geography and government regulation is stifling it.
"How Well Will 'Google Now' Get You Around? So Far, Not Very"
That's the verdict of Rob Pegoraro, respected WaPo tech journalist, writing for Atlantic Cities.
Airports get into the travel content business