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Amazon's net income was US$177 million, or 38 cents per share, a 57 percent percent drop from a year ago.

Sales for the three months before Dec. 31 came out to $17.4 billion, lower than Wall Street expected over the traditionally busy holiday season.

Flooding in Thailand slowed down production for many tech companies this year

In the beginning when hotels first became bookable in global distribution systems, all data updates were manually typed into the central reservation system (CRS) and then entered again into each of the then six GDSs. This labor-intensive data entry was done by chain corporate staff or by representation company staff. In the several years following, hoteliers and GDS management cooperated to take a major stride forward.

Does medical tourism now hold such similar long-term promise as a new market segment for international hotels and resorts?  Even the more modest growth estimates project a tenfold increase in travelers leaving the United States for medical treatment in the next eight years.

The travel industry is growing 23% faster than the world economy and will continue historical growth for the next 18 to 20 years.

Years ago, when you wanted to go on vacation, there was only one option. You had to hoof it down to your local travel agency and browse through some travel brochures.

Then, a few things happened. First, the airlines decided they didn’t need travel agents anymore and they pulled the plug on agent commissions

Going green is going Hi Tech. As hoteliers continue to embrace the necessary tools to be good environmental stewards, and of course reduce operating costs, leading hoteliers are forging new ground in how to utilize technology to significantly reduce energy consumption while also weaning themselves off fossil fuels. It’s a one-two punch that is just starting to catch on. And though these pioneers have some major challenges they’re forging the way for industry wide success.

“It is a tremendous opportunity not only because of where customers want us to be, but because there will be a cost now or later. We need to think about borrowing from the future,” said Daniel Connolly, an associate professor at the University of Denver, who noted that he expects energy costs to continue to rise so it’s best to invent in energy saving technologies presently.

At Hotel 1000 they went for a lighter shade of green approach by cutting energy costs by tying the energy management system through the PMS. That way, when a guest checks in a signal is sent to the room to start cooling or warming the guest room. However, they still have to preset the room by leaving lights and the television on (at least its Energy Star compliant, Incao said) to create the appropriate guest arrival experience. When the guest leaves sensors alert the system to allow the energy to go off to a predetermined set back level.

f a speaker or article uses the words "returned to commerce," or "reused for the material's originally intended purpose," you have a fair likelihood that the person is talking about true recycling. But if a person says that they have produced a "commodity," it's questionable if they are talking about true recycling or, rather, a cheap method of disposal for most of the commodity. The word "commodity" can mean anything bought or sold and not necessarily returned to commerce.

When we log onto the Internet, we take lots of things for granted. We assume that we'll be able to access whatever Web site we want, whenever we want to go there. We assume that we can use any feature we like -- watching online video, listening to podcasts, searching, e-mailing and instant messaging -- anytime we choose. We assume that we can attach devices like wireless routers, game controllers or extra hard drives to make our online experience better. What makes all these assumptions possible is "Network Neutrality," the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet. Net Neutrality means that Internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. It guarantees a level playing field for all Web sites and Internet technologies. But all that could change. The biggest cable and telephone companies would like to charge money for smooth access to Web sites, speed to run applications, and permission to plug in devices. These network giants believe they should be able to charge Web site operators, application providers and device manufacturers for the right to use the network. Those who don't make a deal and pay up will experience discrimination: Their sites won't load as quickly, and their applications and devices won't work as well. Without legal protection, consumers could find that a network operator has blocked the Web site of a competitor, or slowed it down so much that it's unusable. The network owners say they want a "tiered" Internet. If you pay to get in the top tier, your site and your service will run fast. If you don't, you'll be in the slow lane. What's the Problem Here? Discrimination: The Internet was designed as an open medium. The fundamental idea since the Internet's inception has been that every Web site, every feature and every service should be treated without discrimination. That's how bloggers can compete with CNN or USA Today for readers. That's how up-and-coming musicians can build underground audiences before they get their first top-40 single. That's why when you use a search engine, you see a list of the sites that are the closest match to your request -- not those that paid the most to reach you. Discrimination endangers our basic Internet freedoms. Double-dipping: Traditionally, network owners have built a business model by charging consumers for Internet access. Now they want to charge you for access to the network, and then charge you again for the things you do while you're online. They may not charge you directly via pay-per-view Web sites. But they will charge all the service providers you use. These providers will then pass those costs along to you in the form of price hikes or new charges to view content. Stifling innovation: Net Neutrality ensures that innovators can start small and dream big about being the next EBay or Google without facing insurmountable hurdles. Unless we preserve Net Neutrality, startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay for a top spot on the Web. On a tiered Internet controlled by the phone and cable companies, only their own content and services -- or those offered by corporate partners that pony up enough "protection money" -- will enjoy life in the fast lane. The End of the Internet? Make no mistake: The free-flowing Internet as we know it could very well become history. What does that mean? It means we could be headed toward a pay-per-view Internet where Web sites have fees. It means we may have to pay a network tax to run voice-over-the-Internet phones, use an advanced search engine, or chat via Instant Messenger. The next generation of inventions will be shut out of the top-tier service level. Meanwhile, the network owners will rake in even greater profits.

Smart cards and RFID (which stands for radio frequency identification) are contactless keys and work by actually sending small radio frequencies to receiving sensors

A guest can opt for fast check-in, wherein he gives the hotel his phone number and downloads an app.

the smartphone.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published a December 11, 2012 warning letter on its website that cited a dietary supplement company for its improper social media activity

the warning letter explained that the supplement company’s “liking” of a consumer testimonial posted to its product Facebook page was a violative claim in that it established the product as a drug intended to cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent a disease

built on one common principle - climate resilience

designed to withstand the future threat of worsening climate change such as sea level rises

Both projects integrate sustainable energy sources and systems, and are

The number of ATRIO PMS installations has increased 300% in 2014. In addition the ATRIO platform continues to grow with more modules and more zero-training features that allow hotels to provide excellent guest service while reducing their total cost of ownership.

In order to keep pace with the demand for the cloud-based property management system, PAR Springer-Miller has expanded their global ATRIO sales organization.

By leveraging all the capabilities of Microsoft Windows Azure, ATRIO dramatically reduces on-property technology requirements and data security risks.

It is evident with the business idea of hotel management that the first and foremost job of hotel managers and owners is to create more opportunity to keep the hotels room fully occupied all the time of year. Probability of which is a little tough. However it is not impossible if the right kind of hotel reservation management is used.

The Intercontinental Los Angeles Century City Hotel is removing draping ivy plants from the balconies of all 361 rooms, replacing them with drought-tolerant succulents. The Courtyard by Marriott in Torrance tore out 81sq m of turf and flower beds, swapping them for native California grass to help cut water use by 15%.

With California in the worst drought in state history, some hotels have gone beyond

“It’s not a huge savings,” Steve Choe, general manager of the Intercontinental, said about dumping the ivy planters. “I think it’s about sending the right message.”

. When asked to ID the key business drivers pushing them to make a POS upgrade, the vast majority (69.6%) of restaurant operators named “adding a mobile POS” (Figure 1). Coming in a close second, 62.5% chose “enabling new payment options.” Rounding out their top three business drivers, almost half of restaurants surveyed (46.4%) named “delivering personalized guest promotions” as a major objective.

Hospitality Technology’s annual POS Software Trends Report polls restaurant operators about the major business drivers influencing point of sale technology, and asks them about the functionality they’ll be shopping for in their next POS upgrade (Figures 1 and 2). HT also asks the POS software vendor community to reveal their 2014 plans. This year’s results overwhelmingly indicate that restaurant operators and suppliers alike are focusing on mobile POS strategies, and are looking to add everything from mobile payment to tablet-based ordering to their repertoires