Top Stories
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The travel industry maverick fighting to change how we buy airline tickets
TransportFarelogix CEO Jim Davidson learned persistence and salesmanship from the imperfect contents of a blue suitcase that he lugged door-to-door in his Elmira, New York, neighborhood at age 8 with his dog, Lucky, at his side. It was the 1960s and Davidson’s father, a pressman at Artistic Greeting Cards, would bring home birthday-card rejects that [...]
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Dublin Airport now using biometric gates to quickly process passengers
TransportThis pilot program is for Dublin Airport passengers, some of whom are navigating automatic border control gates to get through immigration control as quick as 7.5 seconds, authorities say. The new program, which processes up to 1,000 passengers per day, is powered by SITA’s iBorders biometric gates. In Dublin, the system uses facial recognition and [...]
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Facebook may buy mapping site Waze as it seeks to know more about users
DigitalFacebook Inc., owner of the world’s most popular social-networking service, is in talks to acquire mobile-mapping application provider Waze Inc. for as much as $1 billion, two people familiar with the matter said. The talks to acquire Palo Alto, California-based Waze are not final and a deal may not happen, said the people, who asked [...]
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FCC commissioners vote to expand availability of airborne Wi-Fi access
TransportThe Federal Communications Commission took a step toward improving Web access for air travelers, voting to write rules to open frequencies for an air-to-ground Internet service proposed by Qualcomm Inc. The agency in a 4-0 vote today advanced the plan to help travelers pull in Facebook pages, spreadsheets, videos, games and music on planes equipped [...]
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Amadeus’ first quarter profit rises and claims its growth is “guaranteed”
TransportSpain-based travel bookings company Amadeus expects revenue growth to pick up in the second half of the year, while the contribution of its U.S. and Asian units to the group should increase, its financial director said on Wednesday. Amadeus will continue to win business from rivals this year after its share of travel agency airline [...]
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Disney’s $1 billion gamble on its MyMagic payment bracelet
DigitalEarnings calls are usually heavily scripted, dry and formulaic. That’s why we perked up when we read the Walt Disney Co. conference call transcript last night. In it,Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo laid out in plain terms the thinking behind an interesting new technology push at the entertainment giant known as MyMagic+. In the industry, it’s [...]
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Caesars the first casino to ban Google Glass, will others follow?
DestinationsThe 5 Point Cafe, a Seattle dive bar, was apparently the first to explicitly ban Glass…the bar’s owner, Dave Meinert, said there was a serious side. The bar, he said, was “kind of a private place.” In Las Vegas, a Caesars Entertainment spokesman noted that computers and recording devices were prohibited in casinos. “We will [...]
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Hotel price-fixing lawsuit adds EyeForTravel, Hyatt and Wyndham as defendants
DigitalThis could put a chill into organizers of travel conferences: A purported class-action lawsuit alleging price-fixing among online travel agencies and hotels has added EyeForTravel, the UK-based conference company, as a defendant. The lawsuit alleges that EyeForTravel “facilitated the conspiracy and agreements at issue” from 2004 to 2012 by conducting “private, industry-only conferences” in which [...]
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Square bets recommendations based on payment data beat Foursquare check-ins anytime
DigitalSquare is using its trove of payment data to build an engine for making local recommendations, a move that could upend the conventional wisdom about luring customers through their mobile devices. The recommendation engine, which is already at work in the commerce startup’s merchant directory, will someday suggest places to visit based on a customer’s [...]
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Yahoo in talks to buy travel rewards startup Milewise
TransportYahoo nearing deal to buy travel rewards startup Milewise, according to sources (via Pando Daily) By Erin Griffith On May 2, 2013Yahoo is poised to acquire New York travel startup Milewise, according to people familiar with the deal. The deal is set to close this week, they said. Milewise was founded in 2010 to help consumers [...]
