Articles tagged “google”

With Google Wallet, and Apple Passbook before that, Alaska Airlines is adding all of the bells and whistles to meet customers' needs when they are using their smartphones at the airport -- and most any place else.

Expect Google Glass to crop up in more tourism marketing campaigns and as a reward of social sweepstakes. It makes a destination look tech-savvy, puts played-out attractions in a new light, and attracts potential visitors that a destination might otherwise miss.

Simpler homepages have been a trend over the last few years, and lately hotel-search sites have been catching up. Kayak, Google, and Trivago are among the sites that have streamlined their hotel-search widgets into one line in a bid to get less complicated and distracting.

Google is all grown up now and won't take chances on integrating Waze's reports about police speed traps into Google Maps. That takes some of the life and authenticity out of the Waze community.

If you want to use Google Glass in an automobile, hire an Uber black car, rent a Zipcar and have a friend get behind the wheel as a designated driver, or borrow a Google driver-less vehicle. Otherwise, the ticket inevitably will be more expensive than, well, shelling out for Google Glass.

Tourism expanded globally, airlines and rental car companies faced consolidation, guidebook brands were sold off, and travel tech got better: We don't expect these major stories to disappear in the next year and plan on covering where they lead us just as carefully.

Google Maps is the world's biggest funnel to destination-specific information, and it only makes sense to focus content on those users. Whether or not Zagat's distinctive ratings system and brand voice will continue to rise to the top remains to be seen.

Google Glass will be promoted through so many travel and cultural experiences in the future that use of the wearable tech will undoubtedly wear thin, but for now Authentic Voyages is wise to get ahead of the pack in its marketing for running of the bulls.

Although unsettling to some, the more places that Google can be at once, the better the data and services it can provide its users.