What else is going on in the world of travel tech? A round-up of other stories from across the industry?
- Travellers in the Boston area will now be able to buy rail tickets and passes for the MBTA system via apps on iPhone, Blackerry and Android devices. Mobile ticketing company Masabi will be providing the technology to the MBTA system, allowing passengers to purchase tickets and display on their mobile phones for inspection staff on trains. Less than half of the system's stations have ticket vending machines, meaning the new system will cut down on the amount of on-board transactions which currently take place.
- Reviews specialist Reevoo plans to develop Facebook applications following its acceptance into the social network's Preferred Marketing Developer programme. The move means Reevoo can now use the Facebook Apps API to develop social tools.
- Corporate travel agencies using the Voyager system will now be able to use Zuno, an iPad application which allows travel managers to oversee client use and trends. The app gives a picture of costs against other companies, establish email alerts, non-compliance detection tools and daily reports on data and usage.
- Travellers in India are the latest to experience the new iPad application from Hotels.com. The app gives users access to 140,000 bookable hotels around the world, including some 20,000 available on last-minute deals. Around 1.5 million downloads of the app have been made worldwide so far since launch. The app currently contains around 2.5 million user reviews of hotels and also allows users to find hotels nearest to them, using the GPS tools on the device.
- Better news for Travelzoo with confirmation that its subscriber base in Europe has passed six million for the first time. The company says the UK accounts for half of the number, with Europe making up a quarter of the overall figure for the brand around the globe. Travelzoo currently operates in 11 countries.