Travel Technology

TripAdvisor is injecting a healty dose of competition into hotel metasearch, and is finding a way to give hotels more power in a way that competitors aren't doing. Funny how things change: TripAdvisor, hotels' best friend.

Why didn't someone think of this before? (Perhaps someone did.) It isn't the end-all, be-all in travel search, but it is a step ahead in ease of use.

Apple just did it again. NFC-based Apple Pay is a game changer.

Hotels are losing the battle for last-minute mobile bookings to the online travel agencies. It's not a huge surprise given their respective marketing resources, but this could hurt hotels even more in the future as the shift to mobile bookings accelerates.

Apple's products have change the way we travel from how we listen to music on long bus rides to how we navigate new neighborhoods. In time, these products will likely impact our travel habits and behaviors as well.

Anytime you can talk to TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer and the discussion ranges from "Mr. Sharples" at HomeAway to William Shatner, the Trivago Guy and the co-existence of the mobile Web and mobile apps, it is a very interesting conversation.

Skyscanner is going against the grain in now supporting a hotel-search app separate from its flight-search app. Consider this an opening shot for Skyscanner in hotels, and one that will help the company collect enough data about plotting its next move.

Rosetta Stone has recently made major changes to its products, but it's now learning how to speak the language of a younger customer set for whom the changes will benefit most.

There's a market opportunity in meetings and events -- a $500 billion one, according to DoubleDutch. Conferences need apps and data, and that's where DoubleDutch enters the arena.

Everybody needs to take time to unplug from the constant communication made possible with mobile devices, but that requires consciously setting aside time for meditation and adventure -- not chaining ourselves to a regressive view of technology.