Travel Technology

Google may never become the online booking killer that everyone expected it to become, but it can surely be the best travel information utility service on the planet, and it is using Maps to leverage into it.

The boundary between professional and private worlds is increasingly blurred due to digital devices, and that has profound effects on the traditionally defined silos between managed and unmanaged travel worlds. And these changes differ from culture to culture.

The FAA does need to update its guidelines for use of electronic devices on airplanes, but in the realm of what's important, flyers have other issues they're worried about.

The United States recently started promoting itself as tourist destination overseas, but these images shared on social media channels worldwide will send a much louder and unwelcoming message to potential visitors.

With this bet on Microsoft, Delta is bucking the pro-iPad trend that other airlines -- as well as the vast majority of consumers -- have embraced. Windows' heightened security and stability issues apparently aren't a concern for Delta either.

Twitter has already proven to be a lifeline for people caught in the middle of a disaster. Limiting alerts to public organizations may help curb the spread of misinformation, but the alerts will still only reach Twitter users who sign up for the service -- a relatively small number of citizens.

New York City deserves a lot better local transit apps than the choices now. The ultimate multi-modal real-time local transit app is still some ways off, but tons of progress is being made, as Citymapper shows.

It will be interesting to see whether HotelTonight's user base will really go for 12,000-square-foot, two-story penthouses that are bookable starting "tonight." While some people can afford to shell out $700 for a suite at the last minute, that will probably not be most people's preferred option. Are suite options here to stay in the app? Stay iTuned.

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.