This is the regular Tnooz roundup of product news from around the travel, tourism and hospitality industry, all with a technology, online and digital twist - Wednesday 8 June 2011.
- Europe's Air France, KLM and Panama's Copa Airlines became the first airlines outside of North America to join the airline XML standards body, Open AXIS Group. Open AXIS says its membership roster has increased with the enrollment of 20 new members, bring its ranks to 43 companies. Among the newbies is TravelSky, China's quasi-GDS. None of the four major global distribution systems belong to Open AXIS. Other new full or allied members include: Alaska Airlines, Agentware, ARTA, ARTA Canada, FareCompare, FlightView, Goldenware Travel Technologies, Hipmunk, Intelisys Aviation Systems, KDS, MindTree Limited, Motocol, Open Jaw Technologies, Rearden Commerce, SkyScanner, Travelguard Worldwide and Travel Technology Research.
- CheapOair, a unit of Fareportal, introduced its free Cheapoair Flight Search iPhone app, which enables travelers to search and book domestic and international airfares from some 400 airlines, the company says. CheapOair says the product offers in-app bookings with no service fees.
- Expedia Media Solutions is offering destination marketing organizations and tourism boards in nine U.S. states impacted by flooding or tornadoes a 3:1 media match for advertising sold and published through September 2011. "The offer provides a three to one media dollar match for all advertising on Expedia Inc. websites to allow destination marketing organizations and tourism boards in affected states broader marketing resources and promotional capabilities to reach their potential audience," the company says. The disaster-touched states include Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Lousiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Massachusetts.
- Rough Guides partnered with FHM magazine to create a London city guide iPhone app, available for £2.99 per download. The app uses RoughGuide content plus recommendations from FHM.
- WhereToSleep debuted its Australia website, which enables individuals to offer spare rooms direct to travelers. Based in Australia, the new site offers rooms primarily in Australia and major cities in Europe. WhereToSleep was featured in a TLabs Showcase here.
- Showcasing the secretive country of Burma is the theme behind a collaborative effort by image aggregator Fotopedia and National Geographic. The pair have united to produce an iPhone and iPad application made up of 1,000 photographs, virtual excursions, trip-building capabilities an social tools for sharing photos, slideshows and wallpapers.
- Magellan released a new version of its Roadmap North America iPhone app which taps into the Yelp API to access reviews of local restaurants and other businesses. The app, which uses GPS technology and offers turn-by-turn directions, is available for $59.99 per download.
- DMO white labelling for UK-based metasearch engine DirectFlights [TLabs Showcase - DirectFlights] as it inks a deal with the Dubai Tourism authority to provide flight search on its UK website. The partnership is also expected to extend to other Dubai international offices in the future.