What else is going on in the world of travel tech? A round-up of other stories from across the industry.
- Here's a morsel: Two independent, restaurant-oriented mobile apps, BiteHunter and LocalEats, have integrated some content of their respective content in each other's apps to offer local restaurant deals and dining guides. Under the new arrangement, users of the LocalEats iPhone and iPad apps can view nearby BiteHunter-aggregated dining deals which are bookable on the source sites. Meanwhile, users of the BiteHunter iPhone app can view LocalEats restaurant guides for establishments offering BiteHunter-aggregated dining deals.
- There is a personnel change at Travora Media, formerly known as Travel Ad Network, with ex-CEO Brian Silver moving over to Yahoo as vice president ad platforms, Americas, AdAge reports. Silver had transitioned to president of Travel Ad Network when the company hired Nan-Kirsten Forte as CEO in September. Travora Media has been in a trademark dispute with Travel Spike over the Travel Ad Network name. The newly redesigned Travora Media website states that it has a larger travel information audience, at 18,600 monthly unique visitors, than Yahoo Travel (15 million).
- In a very "app-propriate move", mobile-events app developer QuickMobile of Vancouver, Canada, named Philip Wolf, founder and chairman of PhoCusWright, as chairman of QuickMobile. At the November 2011 PhoCusWright conference, QuickMobile offered iPhone and Android apps for the event. Wolf previously was a Tnooz board member.
- With FlightView's mobile apps, consumers can track arrivals, departures and delays at their airports, but it turns out that the company gets about 20% of its revenue from its cloud-based FlightView Dispatch tool for the ground transportation sector, says Katherine Wellman, vice president of marketing and product management. FlightView claims to have more than 300 ground transportation customers and about 85% of the market in North America.
- TripWolf is celebrating today after passing three million downloads of its iPhone and Android mobile applications. The travel content and planning site says its most popular apps are those for Berlin, London, New York, Barcelona and Paris.
- UK rail operator First TransPennine Express (FTPE) joined the world of mobile ticketing this week. Available for passengers using Manchester Airport and using the Masabi mobile platform, users can buy and display tickets on most mobile handsets, including non-smartphones. The introduction of FTPE services by Masabi follows similar projects with Virgin Trains, Chiltern Railways and TheTrainLine.